MAN ARRESTED AND CHARGED OVER MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR COUNTERFEIT DVD DISTRIBUTION NETWORK17APR 2013
SYDNEY – On 16 April, Australian Customs Services detained a 37 year-old male attempting to board an overseas flight after he was found to be carrying over $15,000 cash, as well as a large quantity of foreign currency. Detectives from Quakers Hill Police attended the airport and arrested the man who was later charged with Copyright and proceeds of crime offences.
Over the last two weeks Detectives from Quakers Hill Police, with the support of investigators from the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT), have conducted search warrant operations on a residential address in Marayong, a factory unit at Kings Park and a storage unit in Blacktown, seizing over 1.2 million High Quality Counterfeit (HQC) ‘Region 4’ movie DVDs and TV box sets, multiple computers and cell phones, company records, artwork and promotional inserts, a shrink wrapping machine, and over $20,000 in cash.
As a result of the police operations, a 29 year-old female from Marayong was arrested on 4th April and is currently released under bail conditions.
It will be alleged that the syndicate were using multiple names, residential and business addresses, and post office boxes to import the High Quality Counterfeit (HQC) ‘Region 4’ DVDs into Australia from an overseas source. These HQC DVDs, accompanying artwork and promotional inserts were then allegedly assembled and repackaged in a factory unit at Kings Park, NSW, before being sold on the internet auction site eBay for approximately 30% off the Recommended Retail Price (RRP). Unsuspecting customers would have been under the impression that the DVDs and box sets they were purchasing were authentic.
It will also be alleged that over 65,000 High Quality Counterfeit DVDs were sold on two eBay accounts, totalling sales in excess of $1.6 million, and that the HQC discs were also being sold to unsuspecting small retail outlets in a number of states.
http://www.afact.org.au/index.php/news
