Not sure if this is trade related, but he might need to buy a counterfeit badge on eBay after this
Wonder if the Institute of Licensing's guidelines cover the sale of counterfeit goods
Nelson taxi driver sold fake Audi and VW hub caps on eBayA TAXI driver made more than £14,000 by selling fake Audi wheel caps on eBay.Atif Amin, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of selling goods with false trademarks and two counts of possessing fake goods contrary to the Trade Marks Act 1994.
Prosecuting at Burnley Crown Court, Jack Troup said that in April 2017 a trading standards officer had logged onto eBay to conduct tests of products being sold by one user.
She purchased four hub caps for a price of £23.99 and once they were received they were sent for trademark analysis where it was confirmed they were counterfeit.
It was also heard that in October 2017, trading standards had obtained a warrant to search Amin's property in Regent Street, Nelson.
Officers found a total of 292 Audi hub caps and 21 VW hub caps, which were all later confirmed to be counterfeit.
Mr Troup said: "The genuine retail price of these items would come to more than £10,000.
"His eBay account also detailed that 689 items were sold between September 2014 and June 2017, with an approximate value of £14,000."
It was explained that Amin had bought the hub caps from a seller in China for as little as $2 each but had not performed any checks to determine whether they were genuine and had also not informed the trademark holder.
Mr Troup added: "A large number of counterfeit items was bought but there was no involvement in any bigger operation."
Defending, Jane Dagnall said that Amin was married with four children, held down a job as a taxi driver, and had not sought to mislead anyone in selling the goods.
Judge Sara Dodd said: "This was a wide-scale retailing of counterfeit goods and is in no way an insignificant matter.
"And under the Proceeds of Crime Act the goods will be confiscated and dealt with at a later date."
Amin was made subject to a 12-month community order and told to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
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