Four Birmingham men sentenced to a combined 7 ½ years imprisonment for counterfeiting and selling faked products

Four men from Birmingham have today (11 April 2025) been handed a combined 7 ½ year sentence at Birmingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to charges related to counterfeiting goods, including Adidas, Nike and Chanel clothing and accessories.

The sentencing follows a lengthy investigation by the National Trading Standards Regional Investigations Team in Central England and assisted by the Birmingham Trading Standards team.

Three of the men: Mahroof Hussain, also known as Adam Maruf Khan, (58), formerly of Lincoln Road in Acocks Green, Basharat Hussain (49), formerly of Derwent Grove in Stirchley, and Mohammed Saleh (49), formerly of Golds Hill Rd in Handsworth, were sentenced for a conspiracy to possess counterfeit goods for supply. While the fourth, Nadeem Mohammed (41) of Anson Grove in Acocks Green, was sentenced for being in possession of counterfeit goods with the intention of those goods being supplied.

Under the leadership of Mahroof Hussain the group sold counterfeit footwear, clothing and accessories. As the group’s ringleader, Mahroof Hussain made regular trips to China to source the illicit goods, making use of multiple false names and ‘safe’ drop off addresses to smuggle the items back to the UK.

Mahroof Hussain then sold the goods as well as acting as wholesaler to Basharat Hussain and Mohammed Saleh, who knowingly sold the goods at local markets.

Nadeem Mohammed was known to at least one of the other three. He was caught transporting the counterfeit goods and admitted that his job was to assist by driving the goods to the market. He claimed that he suspected it was probably counterfeit but that he was being paid simply to be a driver and was not taking a profit from the sale of the counterfeit goods.

That trial related to Mahroof Hussain only, as his three co-defendants had pleaded guilty prior to the trial taking place. Mahroof Hussain finally entered his guilty plea on day 5 of the October trial.

This prosecution followed multiple seizures from assorted premises and vehicles between April 2018 and August 2020. As well as assorted counterfeit goods, also found were trademarked labels and machinery to apply such labels to ‘plain’ items. Brands found to be being copied included Adidas, Nike, Timberland, Fendi, Chanel, Givenchy, Ugg and Alexander McQueen.

Mahroof Hussain was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment, Basharat Hussain was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and Mohammed Saleh was given 12 months imprisonment,

Nadeem Mohammed was given an 18 month Community Order and ordered to do 25 days unpaid work.

In his sentencing comments, HHJ Drew described the operation as a ‘sophisticated organisation over a substantial period of time’ and said the offences were extremely serious with Mahroof Hussain at the head of the operation.

Lord Bichard, Chair of the National Trading Standards Board, said:

“The illegal trade of counterfeit goods – often linked to organised crime – harms legitimate, tax-paying businesses who are licensed to sell genuine goods, also tarnishing the reputation of brands that risk becoming unfairly associated with shoddy goods.

“Today’s sentencing sends a strong message that counterfeiting does not pay. I’d like to thank the work of the Trading Standards officers and partners who areworking hard as a part of Operation Beorma to put a stop to this criminal activity.

“We continue to urge consumers to be vigilant. If they or someone they know has purchased a counterfeit product or suspects someone of selling counterfeits, report it to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.