Fakers likely to face more charges

Police have seized counterfeit clothing and sporting goods with a street value of more than a quarter of a million dollars as a result of raids across Queensland and Victoria recently.
Private investigation firm Global Brand Protection (GBP) and national sports body the Australian Sporting Goods Association joined state police in conducting the raids, which resulted in eleven people being arrested.
Between them the group faces nearly 80 charges of alleged breaches of the Federal Trade Practices Act however, it is understood more charges could arise as police investigations continue.
The first raid was conducted in Ipswich late last month following a two month investigation by GBP which found two Australian men had allegedly been making regular visits to Thailand to bring back counterfeit clothing and sporting goods. Approximately 130 items valued at $5,000 were seized.
GBP CEO John Rhodes said looking at the big The second raid, launched on February 25, was conducted at Melbourne's Queen Victoria Markets where Victorian police seized nearly 5,000 counterfeit merchandise items. The estimated value of the seized items was put at more than $245,000 and included international fashion labels Ralph Loren, Nike, Adidas, BMW, Holden and Lonsdale.
The raids bring the total value of counterfeit goods seized by police and private investigators to more than $4 million in the first two months of this year alone.
At the time of press a date had yet to be set for the group to answer the allegations before the courts.
ASGA president Sean Cary, whose organisation represents Adidas, Nike, Rebel Sport, Asics, New Balance among others, said he was very pleased with the arrests however warned this was just the tip of the iceberg.
"It's obviously a start but illegal trading is still a large problem in this industry. To really have an impact on the counterfeiting trade, all industries, including fashion and sport, have to work together on this problem."