Derbyshire Del Boy sold £280k worth of fake trainers and perfume

A YOUNG fraudster from Derbyshire bought counterfeit Nike trainers and brand-name perfumes over the internet and sold them as genuine to unsuspecting buyers.

Financial investigators concluded that almost £280,000 of transactions had moved through a PayPal account belonging to Tristan Bowers in just two years.

Derby Crown Court heard how he was buying the sub-standard goods from an area of Manchester wellknown for manufacturing them and selling them on for vast profits.

And when Derbyshire County Council’s trading standards team raided his Chesterfield home they found 214 pairs of Nike trainers, almost 600 bottles of fake perfume and £1,300 in cash.

Handing Bowers a six-month prison term, suspended for two years, Judge Martin Hurst said: “You undermined these reputable companies for your own benefits and deceived purchasers who believable they were buying genuine goods over the internet from you.

“That is theft and although you were not manufacturing the goods, you were buying and selling them intending to make not insignificant profits.

“Over the past two years, since this raid, you have identified you had an addiction to gambling and you have been addressing that.

“You are now seeking to set up a legitimate business while working full-time. I hope this conviction does not lead to you losing your job but that is down to your employers.”

Philip Clemo, prosecuting, said Derbyshire County Council’s trading standards team were contacted by Nike who informed them they believed counterfeit trainers were being sold by Bowers over eBay from an account called Branded Bargains. In a raid on Bowers’ property they found 214 pairs of fake Nike trainers, 124 bottles of Christian Dior Sauvage perfume, 415 bottles of Coco Mademoiselle perfume and 52 bottles of Bleu du Chanel.

Bowers, of Bridge Street, Pilsley, pleaded guilty to four counts of fraudulently using registered trademarks.