Counterfeiting gang leader to pay £1.2 million after Havering Council busted biggest ever global eBay scam

21 September 2011

The ringleader of a criminal network convicted of masterminding a global fake golf club scam after an unprecedented investigation by Havering Council has been ordered to pay more than £1.2 million by a court.

The counterfeiting operation was the biggest of its kind ever to be investigated by a Council trading standards team and is the largest counterfeiting conspiracy ever uncovered on eBay.

 

Gary Bellchambers, from Rainham in Havering, was ordered to pay back the total amount at a Proceeds Of Crime hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court .

 

Bellchambers has to pay £1,248,638 in total – of which £250,000 is towards Havering Council’s prosecution costs. Havering Council will also receive a large amount of the confiscated amount. If he fails to pay the amount within four months he faces a maximum of up to five years in custody in default. He is currently serving a sentence of four years and three months in jail after the criminal trial in 2009.

 

Earlier this year four other members of the gang were ordered to pay a total of £643,000. The confiscation orders totalled £513,000 and £130,000 was towards the Council’s prosecution costs.

 

The group sold millions of pounds worth of counterfeit golf clubs and other fake golf merchandise through the website between June 2003 and March 2008.

 

Bellchambers was the ‘ringleader’ who orchestrated the conspiracy, sourced and organised the delivery of more than six tons of golf equipment into the United Kingdom alone.

 

The majority of the fake goods were manufactured at factories in Turtle Creek, Shenzhen, China and shipped to the various defendants’ addresses in the UK. From bases in Thailand, or their homes in the UK, they arranged for the fake goods to be sent to eBay customers in Ireland, Australia, the United States, Germany, Italy, France, Canada, the Netherlands, Brazil and New Zealand. Nearly every major golf brand had been counterfeited.

 

The downfall of the counterfeiting empire was brought about when a customer complained to Havering Council trading standards officers after she had tried to get a refund for two clubs.

 

The Council then launched an investigation, codenamed Operation Augusta, named after the US golf club which hosts The Masters.

 

Council officers searched the homes of the defendants and other addresses and seized computers and thousands of golf clubs.

 

The defendants sold the clubs for around £50-£100 (genuine clubs retail at £110-130). The cost of manufacturing each fake club and having it shipped from China to the UK was US$5.

 

Councillor Lesley Kelly, Cabinet member for Public Protection, said:

 

“Operation Augusta was an unprecedented investigation and a huge victory against counterfeiters who were ripping off thousands of people. It was an incredible effort by our team, named this year as the best department in the country in tackling counterfeiting.

 

“We will be able to take a large amount of these criminals’ assets and invest this money into protecting local people.”

 

Under the confiscation order made on May 6 this year, Roy Cottee, (23/9/43) of Thorn Lane, Rainham, was ordered to pay £220,000 within six months and also £60,000 prosecution costs. His wife Kay  (26/5/63) was ordered to pay £80,000 and £10,000 prosecution costs.

 

Keith Thomas, (13/11/59) from Martin Drive, Rainham, was ordered to pay £173,000 and £40,000 prosecution costs.

 

Sharron Williams, (21/11/60) from The Alders, West Wickham, Kent, was ordered to pay £40,000 and £20,000 prosecution costs.

 

In the criminal trial which took place between September and December 2009, Roy and Kay Cottee, Sharron Williams and Helen Wilson, (14/11/80) of The Knoll, Hertford, were found guilty of conspiring together to sell or distribute counterfeit golf clubs, clothing and accessories bearing signs likely to be mistaken for registered trademarks contrary to Section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

 

Bellchambers, (2/9/63), of Dunedin Road, Rainham, pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy along with Keith Thomas. Chris Moughton, from Hayfield Avenue, Blackpool, pleaded guilty to a role in a connected conspiracy.

 

Keith Thomas was sentenced to 16 months in prison and Roy Cottee was given a custodial sentence of 12 months.

 

Confiscation orders  were also made against Helen Wilson and Chris Moughton was held in January this year.

 

Havering Council’s Trading Standards team was named as the best department in the country in the Anti-Counterfeiting Group’s annual awards on Thursday 5 May 2011.

 

The ACG Awards Committee gave the team the 2011 Department Award for Excellence on Thursday 5 May for “outstanding work” for the Operation Augusta investigation and successful prosecution.

 

The Council was awarded £500 towards courses for Trading Standards officers, surveillance equipment, satellite navigations units, digital cameras or IT equipment.