Singapore police arrested a 38-year-old man for his alleged involvement in online sales of counterfeit luxury watches and accessories on Thursday, September 27.
In a news release, police stated that officers from Singapore's Criminal Investigation Department conducted a raid on Thursday, in the vicinity of Bukit Timah, from where they arrested the alleged offender.
During the search operation, police officers found a total of 255 pieces of trademark-infringing goods such as watches and watch accessories. All of these illegal items were seized and will be used as primary evidence of the case. The police also stated that the estimated value of these seized items was more than S$140,000.
After the initial investigation, the officers came to know that the unnamed accused had procured these counterfeit goods via local and foreign sources. They also found that the man wanted to resell them via various online shopping platforms.
However, police said they take a serious view of intellectual property right (IPR) infringements. Since the distribution and sale of counterfeit goods are serious offences, they will not hesitate while taking actions against the offenders, who profit at the expense of legitimate businesses and consumers.
It should be noted that anyone, who will found guilty of selling items with falsely applied trademarks, shall be liable for an imprisonment up to five years, or a maximum fine of $100,000, or both.
Earlier police stated in their reports that between January and June 2018 the crimes related to e-commerce scams, loan scams and "China officials" impersonation scams have increased by 72.8% to 1,823 cases, from 1,055 cases in the same period last year. The police said that since the use of smartphones is higher, more Singaporeans are going online and "this has likely contributed to the increase in online commercial crime cases."
