UK trading standards officers are sending out the message crime does not pay following a Crown Court decision to jail and deport a Chinese national and strip him of assets to the value of more than £90,000.

Peng Sun from Milton Keynes, was sentenced at Huntingdon Crown Court, near Cambridge to 20 months on 21 counts under section 92 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 to run concurrent, a £92,544 confiscation order to be paid by March, followed by an automatic deportation after serving his jail term. He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

Sun was selling counterfeit DVDs via internet-based auction websites on a major and extensive scale. Using the trader name “ciscoren”, he was offering for sale a DVD box set of the American TV series “Smallville Seasons 1-6” and his advert included the false claim that “This is officially & Licensed Released Legal Manufactured DVD/DVD Box Set”.

When interviewed, Sun stated that he entered the UK in March 2003 and he was still registered as a student at London Thames College where he is studying for an MBA.

The only paid employment he has had in that time is a part-time job at the Post Office during Christmas 2007. He estimated that since December 2007 he was making between £5,000 and £8,000 per month in turnover selling DVDs. Thames Valley Police’s financial investigation revealed that Sun held £93,000 in 37 bank accounts.

In an unrelated operation, London’s Metropolitan police seized counterfeit DVDs and burners in a raid on a property. Counterfeit copies of recent films including Seven Pounds, Australia and 4 Christmases were among the items seized. A laptop, 22 burners and 600 blank recordable DVD were also seized.

Story filed 29.01.09