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£42,544 penalty for counterfeit cigarette and cash haul (24 May 2017)

Date: 24/05/2017
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, £42,544 penalty for counterfeit cigarette and cash haul

Westminster City Council’s Trading Standards department has prosecuted a hairdresser who was found to have counterfeit cigarettes and cash stashed away on his premises.

At Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Cheng Cai Wang, 47, pleaded guilty to eight offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and Consumer Protection Act 1987. In total, Wang and the company Star Wang Ltd were fined £42,544.

Trading Standards officers filmed an operation carried out on 21 January 2016, which shows sniffer dogs hunting out boxes of cigarettes hidden in various areas of the premises – including two suitcases in an enclosed yard at the rear of the premises.

Packets of cigarettes were also disguised in a box designed for a laptop, as well as a dummy security camera, hairdryer, toy Lego car and fitness equipment.

The detection dog also found large bundles of £20 notes banded together in bundles of £1,000 hidden in wash bags – and a large quantity of cash in a footstool within the premises.

The seizure was part of Operation Henry 2 – a national operation developed and managed by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute on behalf of the Department of Health and carried out locally by the council.

Westminster City Council Cabinet Member for Public Protection and Licensing, Councillor Antonia Cox, said:

“Counterfeit cigarettes undercut legitimate businesses, can fund organised crime – and endanger the health of those who buy them, as they are smoking ‘tobacco’ often made of rat droppings, heavy metals and tea leaves.

“Protecting residents, visitors and local businesses from those who choose to sell counterfeit goods is of paramount importance to Westminster City Council.

“I hope this prosecution sends a clear message that we will clamp down hard on rogue businesses.”


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