CLIFFORD LO CLIFFORD.LO@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 10 November, 2015, 3:41am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 10 November, 2015, 7:01am
The haul discovered by customs was worth about HK$620,000. Photo: SCMP PIcture
Hong Kong customs uncovered a residential flat in the busy shopping district of Causeway Bay that was used as a showroom and retail outlet for fake luxury products.
More than 900 counterfeit items worth about HK$620,000, mainly women's clothes and leather goods, were confiscated in the flat at the junction of Kingston and Paterson streets last Tuesday.
Officers arrested three Hongkongers - the sole director of a local trading firm and her two employees, all aged 45. The two women and one man were released on bail pending further investigation.
“Initial investigation showed it had been in operation for less than half a year and its net profit reached HK$100,000 to HK$150,000 a month ” said assistant superintendent Lam Yau-tak, head of customs’ intellectual property general investigation group.
Lam said the interior design of the 65 square metre flat was just like a boutique, with its living room filled with fake brand-name clothing.
“There were also two fitting rooms and a cashier counter,” he said.
Customs surveillance revealed the outlet's clients were mainly office workers in the district.
“Fake products were sold at 10 to 20 per cent of the original prices of the genuine goods,” Lam said.
Investigators believed the clients were aware the goods they bought were fake.
Customs began an investigation after receiving a complaint. The raid came after female officers posed as customers made purchases and collected evidence on several occasions.
Lam said the three suspects could face prosecution under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance that carried a maximum penalty of a HK$500,000 fine and a five-year jail term.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1877300/fake-goods-sold-flat-prime-hong-kong-shopping-area-causeway
