The Sudbury RCMP detachment seized about $15,000 worth of counterfeit cellphone covers bearing various unlicensed commercial logos from a business located in an unnamed city mall, according to a press release.

The RCMP seized the covers on Oct. 13 as a result of an ongoing investigation. The covers bear logos that include Chanel, Coach, Burberry, Juicy Couture, Louis Vuitton, Betty Boop, National Hockey League, Billabong, Ferrari, Gucci, Apple, D & C and Babyphat.

The mall vendor was served with three counterfeit product notices, the RCMP stated in the release.

A counterfeit product notice is a written warning, in lieu of criminal charges, which serves to educate merchants in regards to offences associated to selling counterfeit products.

In the future, if the vendor is found in possession of counterfeit items, he could face charges under the Trade-marks Act and the Criminal Code.

Although the effects of making, distributing and/ purchasing counterfeited products may not be obvious, the general public, in one way or another, feel the repercussions of these activities in the form of:
- counterfeit products (knock offs) are usually made with substandard materials which could pose a threat to the public‘s health and /or safety;
- the sale and distribution of counterfeit products represent a substantial loss of revenue for authorized local, national and international retailers and /or distributors;
- in some cases, profits made by counterfeiters are used to finance organize crime groups.

If anyone has any information in regards to the manufacturing, shipping or distribution of counterfeit products, please contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or the Sudbury RCMP detachment at 705-671-0645.

Posted by Arron Pickard