‘eBay cost me £55k – my home and car’

7:31am Wednesday 18th July 2007

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A Tolworth man jailed for Kingston's biggest ever counterfeit scam has been ordered by Kingston Crown Court to sell his flat and his car to pay back the profits of his crime.

Simon Waugh, 45, was jailed for 12 months in March after building up a criminal business with a £170,000-a-year turnover by importing fake designer clothes from India and selling them as genuine on eBay.

“This just shows that crime and selling fakes on eBay doesn’t pay. The aim of any such incentive payments is that the cash can be targeted to fund local crime-fighting priorities for the benefit of the community.”

Ted Forsyth

He appeared in Kingston Crown Court on Monday for a confiscation hearing, in which Judge Campbell ordered him to sell his flat in Tolworth Close and his Vauxhall Cavalier car to pay back £55,000, about one third of the proceeds from the scam.

The money will be divided between the Treasury, the Crown Prosecution Service and the trading standards department at Kingston council - with the council believed to be receiving about £18,000 for its role in the investigation.

Chief trading standards officer Ted Forsyth said: "This just shows that crime and selling fakes on eBay doesn't pay. The aim of any such incentive payments is that the cash can be targeted to fund local crime-fighting priorities for the benefit of the community."

After serving five months in prison, it is believed that Waugh will be released next week under a tagging scheme that may see him have to comply with a curfew and an order of residence.

Waugh's brother Corin believes he has received an unnecessarily severe punishment. He said: "For someone who had no previous convictions and had never been in trouble, you would have expected a fine or community penalty. He now has nowhere to live and will find it almost impossible to get a new job. His life has been ruined."

According to his brother, Waugh had been working at Tesco in a distribution centre and was about to be promoted to manager when he was arrested. He said: "Simon had been doing what everyone does and selling bric-a-brac, that he had bought from charity shops, on eBay as a hobby. He then began selling CDs and it was just a case of trying things and seeing what sold best."

Waugh was caught by Kingston's trading standards department, which began the investigation two years ago, when it received complaints from an individual and a clothing company.

Officers set up a test-purchase using the department credit card and were sent counterfeit goods, including Armani and Hugo Boss clothes, by Waugh. When Waugh's flat in Tolworth Close was raided by trading standards officers, the majority of goods found were counterfeits of such high quality that experts had to be called in to identify them.

Waugh now has six months to pay the money or face an 18 month prison sentence.