Suspended Sentence for Selling Fake Designer Goods
Southall storage unit found to contain 18 tonnes of counterfeit items
A selection of the goods seized by trading standards officers. Picture: Ealing Council
|
April 16, 2025
A director of a company based in Southall has been given a suspended sentence after a store of 18 tonnes of fake luxury goods worth millions of pounds was found.
Isleworth Crown Court heard that, during a raid on Bling Master Company Limited’s warehouse in April 2023, trading standards officers from Ealing Council seized approximately 53,000 counterfeit items. The loss to the fashion industry if they were sold was calculated to be £5million. The seized goods will be destroyed.
The items ranged from jewellery, handbags, and perfumes to clothing and footwear and included knock-off imitations of brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hugo Boss, Hermes, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Michael Kors. They were being stored and sold from a unit at Charles House in Bridge Road.
Parvesh Virmani, of Brabazon Road in Hounslow, was the sole company director of Bling Master Company Limited and had pleaded guilty to offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994 at an earlier hearing. At the sentencing hearing on 17 March, the judge sentenced him to 8 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 2 years as well as 100 hours’ unpaid work and a 15-day rehabilitation programme. He was also ordered to pay a £1,200 contribution to legal costs.
Bling Master Company Limited was dissolved in January 2024.
The inspection on the company had been carried out in partnership with members of the Anti-Counterfeiting Group. It is an industry body that represents more than 3,000 brands affected by this influx of fakes into the UK.
According to industry figures, fake goods cost the UK economy more than £8.6billion in lost revenue, and at least 86,300 jobs are also lost as a result.
Councillor Kamaljit Nagpal is the council’s lead member for decent living incomes. She said, “Counterfeiters aim to deceive consumers into believing they are buying safe, high-quality products made by well-known, reputable companies. The products are often far from that, and can sometimes even be dangerous, having not undergone any safety checks.
“Buying fakes may seem harmless enough, but it is not a victimless crime. It lines the pockets of organised crime groups, with profits fuelling gang-related activity, human trafficking, and even terrorism. It also damages legitimate businesses and robs the taxpayer of legitimate income.
“Our hardworking trading standards officers will use all means available to protect our communities and businesses from the threat posed by those dealing in counterfeit goods.”
If you have information on anyone selling illegal products in the borough, you can report it to Ealing Council’s trading standards team on tradingstandards@ealing.gov.uk
Value Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |