A counterfeit jewellery importer caught with fake designer items worth nearly £500,000 has been jailed for 30 months.
Jinbao Zhang was stopped on the M1 on August 21 last year with a car full of 1,500 items, falsely branded with trademarks including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Juicy Couture, Paul’s Boutique, Pandora, Links, Thomas Sabo and Tiffany & Co.
Earrings, purses, necklaces, bags, rings and watches were all seized from Zhang, who was on the way to a market in Wembley, north London.
Zhang, aged 27, of Ladywell Point, Manchester, was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on Friday following a prosecution brought by Northamptonshire County Council Trading Standards.
A number of text messages were found on Zhang’s phone from market traders, asking for certain goods. He admitted nine counts of possessing goods bearing a false trademark at a previous court hearing last year.
It is estimated the items seized had a value of around £500,000 if they had been sold as genuine items.
A trading standards spokesman said: “Not only does the sale of counterfeit goods undermine the business of legitimate retailers, it also pushes up the price of genuine products.
“We will continue to take action wherever appropriate and consumers should also be aware when being offered products at seemingly bargain prices.”
Anyone with information on counterfeit goods can call 08454 040506.