EBay?s biggest ever scam?
Havering Council said that a conspiracy in which millions of pounds worth of counterfeit golf clubs were sold over eBay during a five year span is the largest kind of counterfeiting operation that the council has investigated.
Officers of the investigative team determined that more than 96,000 clubs and other items of merchandise were sold throughout the period from March 2003 and June 2008.
The Snaresbrook Crown Court found four people guilty of working together to distribute the fake merchandise. The guilty were Sharron Williams from West Wickham, Kent, Roy and Kay Cottee both of Rainham Essex, and Helen Wilson from Hertford.
Additionally, three other defendants have already pleaded guilty. They are Gary Bellchambers from Rainham who is the ringleader of the fraud group, Keith Thomas of Rainham, and Chris Moughton of Blackpool.
In addition to his guilt, Bellchambers also admitted that the group used the trademarks without permission in the same manner they created supposed Sony memory sticks and Qantas complimentary lounge cards.
The defendants purchased the fake items from Shenzhen, China and had them shipped to their homes.
The group made trips to Thailand except for Wilson who used his own home, and sold fake goods over eBay to customers in many locations include Brazil, Australia, Germany, the US, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Canada.
Trading standards officers caught wind of the operation when consumer Christine Manz complained about not receiving a refund for the two clubs. Although the conspirators usually quickly issued refunds to avoid drawing attention to their scam, Bellchambers was in Thailand at the time and ignored the letters.
Outside of the counterfeit ring, the investigation also found that some of the golf balls sold to customers exploded upon contact with a golf club and that one club had a tropical spider?s nest inside.
