Two Nottingham men have been given suspended prison sentences after an investigation by Trading Standards officers found they made more than £200,000 selling fake car parts.
Nasir Abdulla, aged 35, of Chalfont Drive in Aspley, and Sayed Mahmoud, aged 34, of Haselmere Road, Bobbers Mill, admitted selling the counterfeit items when they appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday 3 March.
Nottingham City Council’s Trading Standards discovered that the pair started two companies around 2013 trading as ‘g-customz’ and ‘nf-designz’. They were importing thousands of counterfeit car parts from China, mainly Audi, Volkswagen and Mercedes.
These were then advertised on Facebook as genuine parts and sold to unsuspecting consumers. Abdulla and Mahmoud made a substantial amount of money from the scam, benefitting to the tune of £150,000 and £60,000 respectively.
The car companies involved made test purchases from g-customz and nf-designz after seeing their parts being advertised and confirmed they were counterfeit before contacting Trading Standards, which began an in-depth investigation.
Abdulla and Mahmoud pleaded guilty to the unauthorised use of trademarks between 2013 and 2018.
Abdulla was given an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to do 200 hours’ unpaid work. Mahmoud was handed a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to do 120 hours’ unpaid work.
Councillor Neghat Khan, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Safety, said: “I commend Nottingham City Council Trading Standards for bringing these perpetrators to justice.
“This was a difficult and complicated investigation over a long period of time which has resulted in the companies being closed down. The sentences handed out by the judge reflect the serious nature of their offending and are fully deserved.”
