Shopkeeper jailed for having 8,000 fake cell phones

[Chun Li]

Feb 11, 2011

Shopkeeper jailed for having 8,000 fake cell phones

By Khushwant Singh

RAIDS on a business in Sim Lim Square in August and December 2009 uncovered 7,942 fakes that included Apple, Nokia and Sony Ericsson cell phones.

In a district court on Friday, Li Chuhan, 31, a Chinese national and a permanent resident here, pleaded guilty to copyright and trademark infringements and was jailed for a year and nine months.

Investigations revealed that Li started selling MP3 and MP4 players from a kiosk in Sim Lim Square in April 2007. The court heard that his uncle in China helped him to source for these items. Subsequently, his uncle's son, Li Xixin, 25, arrived from Shenzhen to join the business after completing his studies.

In April 2008, they set up a company called Yaomin Digital with both of them as directors drawing a monthly salary of $3,000. The cousin, who put in $120,000, was the major shareholder.

They rented a unit on the fourth floor and set up several makeshift kiosks in the shopping centre. In July 2008, the two partners decided to sell China-made cell phones as the sales of MP3 and MP4 devices were declining.

On Aug 7, 2009, officers attached to the Intellectual Property Rights Branch (IPRB) of the Criminal Investigation Department raided the premises rented by Yaomin in Sim Lim Square. A total of 615 fakes, comprising counterfeit cell phones, headsets, batteries, user manuals and packaging, were seized.

But this did not deter Li. A second raid on Dec 2, 2010 was conducted and a further 7,327 fakes were discovered. Li's cousin is on the run.

 

[Zhou Tai]

Director of electronics store jailed 21 months
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 11 February 2011 1555 hrs
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="260"> <tbody><tr> <td align="right" width="20"></td> <td align="right" width="240">

</td> </tr> <tr> <td height="60" valign="top"></td> <td class="update" height="80" valign="top"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="138">Photos </td> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="47">1 of 1</td> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="18"><input disabled="disabled" id="btnPrev" value="<< Previous" src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_previous.gif" height="15" type="image" width="18"></td> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="19"><input id="bntPlay" value="Play - Stop" src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_stop.gif" height="15" type="image" width="19"></td> <td bgcolor="#f6f6f6" width="18"><input disabled="disabled" id="btnNext" value=" Next >> " src="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/butt_next.gif" height="15" type="image" width="18"></td> </tr> </tbody></table>

</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td class="update"></td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td>
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
SINGAPORE: A director of a Sim Lim Square electronics store was jailed 21 months on Friday after dealing with 7,942 counterfeit products.

31-year-old Li Chuhan, who ran Yaomin Digital, originally faced 147 charges. He pleaded guilty to 50 of the charges on November 11, last year.

The remaining charges were taken into consideration.

Li, who operated several outlets inside the shopping mall, had dealt with counterfeit items such as mobile phones, MP3 players and other multimedia devices.

The products, which came from China, bore the names and logos of popular brands such as Nokia, Apple as well as Sony.

The court heard that officers from the Intellectual Property Rights Branch first raided Li's outlets on August 7, 2009 at around 3pm and seized 615 products.

Li did not learnt his lesson and continued offering counterfeit products for sale.

Officers from the branch conducted another raid on December 2 that year and they managed to seize 7,327 products this time round.

In mitigation, Li's lawyer, Luke Lee, told the court that his client, a Singapore Permanent Resident came here from China in 1999.

He ran his business with his cousin and co-director, 25-year-old Li Xixin, who is also a China national.

The lawyer said that it was the 25-year-old's idea to import the counterfeit products and Li had no say in the matter.

However, District Judge John Ng disagreed with this, stressing that Li had re-offended after officers raided his outlets the first time round.

Court papers state that Li's cousin is now on the run after he absconded while out on bail.

He has presumably returned to China, said Mr Lee.

- CNA/fa