Surelock Assists Brent and Harrow Trading Standards Secure Convictions
Surelock work closely on behalf of our clients with Trading Standards Services all over UK and the work we do often results in prosecutions and Court proceedings, here are two very excellent results from our work with Brent and Harrow Trading Standards:-
Two Traders Sentenced for Selling Fake Goods
Two traders caught selling fake goods pleaded guilty and were sentenced at Harrow Crown Court on 6th August 2010 for a number of trade mark offences.
Habib Melloul (aged 28) of Shrewsbury Street, Kensington and Chelsea was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and ordered to pay £2,000 in prosecution costs to the London Boroughs of Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service.
His wife, Aisha Melloul (aka Caryl Hubbard), aged 28, who was also involved in the business, was given a six month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to perform 80 hours of unpaid community work. In addition, she was ordered to pay £3,000 towards the cost of the prosecution,
The court heard Habib Melloul and Aisha Melloul were jointly involved in the purchase, storing and onward distribution of counterfeit shoes, clothing and bags. The goods were sold at Wembley and Portobello markets and on e-Bay and Amazon websites.
Court Confiscates £254,000 from Counterfeit Goods Dealer
On Monday 23rd August 2010 at Inner London Crown Court, Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service secured the confiscation of £254,000 from Nazakat Hussain after he was caught dealing in counterfeit goods from Wembley Market. His Honor Judge Chapple made the order for this confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and gave him six months to pay up.
Confiscation proceedings were instituted last year following the successful conviction of Mr Hussain by Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service, which resulted in him being sentenced to two years in prison for supplying counterfeit goods from stalls at Wembley market. The Trading Standards Service used the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which came into force to strip criminals of their ill gotten gains, to expose Mr Hussain’s finances and assets over a six year period. These detailed investigations revealed that Mr Hussain owned three houses, a business premise, a six series convertible BMW and that he had thousands of pounds in various bank accounts. All of these assets were then subject to restraint orders imposed by Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service in order to prevent them from disappearing.
During the hearing on 23rd August 2010, the court accepted that Mr Hussain had benefited to the value of £600,000 from his criminal activities and that the amount available to him to pay was £254,000.
Mr Hussain will now have to pay the order in full within the next six months or he will face serving a default prison sentence, which was set at 3 years. Should he serve a term in prison in default for non payment of the order, he would still owe the full amount. Furthermore, any outstanding balance after the six months deadline would start attracting interest.