Market trader fined £200,000 for selling fake designer phone cases

A Covent Garden trader has been ordered to pay more than £200,000 for selling fake designer phone covers and using misleading sale signs.

Jeffrey Faber was ordered to pay over £218,000 at Southwark Crown Court on 7 October 2021 after pleading guilty to six offences committed by himself and his company Designer Mobiles Ltd.

An investigation by Westminster City Council’s trading standards team found a range of counterfeit designer phone cases at Mr Faber’s Jubilee Market Stall (1 Tavistock Court, Piazza, London WC2E 8BD).

Officers seized 1,299 mobile phone covers bearing trade marks of brands like Adidas, Nike, Apple and Chanel.

They also found Mr Faber had been displaying sales signs at his stall in Jubilee Market for years without ever having held a sale.

Mr Faber was ordered to pay a £200,000 settlement, of which £74,000 will be given to Westminster Council.

He was also fined £1,300 for selling counterfeit goods and using misleading sales signs.

Costs of £17,230.50 were also awarded in full, bringing the total amount payable to £218,680.50.

Trading standards had previously seized counterfeit products from Mr Faber in 2005 and 2012.

The council decided to take him to court due to his previous offences.

A council spokesperson said: “One of our responsibilities is to protect the public against scams and to ensure that trading in Westminster is fair and safe.

“We are pleased that our investigation resulted in prosecution, and the severity of the penalty will serve as a warning that we will not tolerate such practices in Westminster.”

Mr Faber pleaded guilty to four Trades Mark Act (1994) and two Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulation (2008) offences in October 2019.

Sentencing was suspended until a criminal  investigation was completed.