A man from Hillingdon has been ordered by a court to pay back £40,000 he’d made by selling counterfeit iPhone batteries on eBay.
Sanjay Giri, 54, from Hayes, was also ordered to pay £10,000 towards Hillingdon Council’s court costs following Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) proceedings at Isleworth Crown Court on 3 August this year.
Giri had been convicted by a jury at the same court on 3 March and sentenced the following day, for five counts of trademark infringement.
Following an investigation from Hillingdon Council’s trading standards team in October 2019, the court had heard how Giri, trading on eBay as Lithium Power Limited, had been selling batteries listed as ‘Official 100% Genuine Apple’ but were actually counterfeit.
As part of the trading standards team’s investigations, it was uncovered that Lithium Power Limited had sold 714 batteries all marked with the Apple Community Trade Mark, priced at £13.99, yielding almost £10,000 in revenue.
A warrant for Giri’s home was executed and a further 676 of the counterfeit batteries were found and seized, along with other electrical goods.
Cllr Eddie Lavery, Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services at Hillingdon Council, said: “We’re committed to creating safe and strong communities where legitimate businesses can thrive, but criminals are not welcome and will be rooted out.
“I thank the trading standards team whose excellent work here has very much proved that crime doesn’t pay, as this resident has found out the hard way and is now facing a payment of £50,000.”
Last year, Giri received a community order and had counterfeit goods confiscated during his sentencing hearing. He was also banned from being a company director for four years.
In the recent POCA hearing, Giri was given three months to repay £40,000 from his dishonest earnings. Failure to do so could lead to a nine-month prison sentence.
