A trader who sold fake designer clothes from his stall will have to sell his house in order to pay a £60,000 fine, or face 20 months in jail.
Zaheer Ahmed, from Sparkhill, was found guilty of selling counterfeit Timberland, Henri Lloyd and Nike clothes from two markets, one in Wellesbourne and the other in Donnington.
At Warwick Crown Court, the jury were told that the clothes would have been worth £58,000 if they were real, however Mr Ahmed would have earned around £16,000 from the replicas.
The 38 year old admitted seven charges of possessing illegal items and seven others of selling them.
He is currently suspended for six months and will have to do 120 hours of community service.
Ben Williams, prosecuting, told a hearing that Mr Ahmed brought in a total of £105,835 from his illegal activities.
He said, “The available amount is based on the sole realisable asset of 1 Dunsmore Road in Sparkhill, with an equity figure of £60,000.”
A confiscation order was made in that amount and Judge Philip Gregory ordered that Mr Ahmed should be jailed for 20 months if he fails to pay within six months.
Prosecutor Matthew Barnes said that an undercover Trading Standards officers witnessed men working on Ahmed’s stall unloading labelled goods from his van after their colleagues had checked the stall thoroughly.
According to reports, one officer brought a ‘G-Star’ t-shirt for £5 and returned the following week to purchase an Adidas t-shirt.
Trading standard officers stopped Mr Ahmed in his Mercedes van, which was loaded with stock, and arrested him.
The stall owner pleaded guilty, claiming that he bought all of the clothing for £1,500 from a man named Mickey.
He believed that the items were genuine and sold them on his stall in order to regain the money he spent.
Defender Ben Mills argued that Mr Ahmed was a decent man who regretted his actions, adding, “he has made real efforts to turn his life around. This is an otherwise good man who deserves to be given his chance in the community.”
