Counterfeit Sporting Merchandise

Counterfeit Sporting Merchandise

Our client, a major English football team had been battling the sale of counterfeit goods and illegal ticket selling internally before contacting an investigator. There were two major issues and both required an entirely different approach, the first issue was with merchandisers selling counterfeit and unlicensed goods around the ground on match days, this issue was relatively straight forward for our team, the clubs issue was that between them and trading standards they only had limited staff and they were well known by the retailers so they would simply move or hide the products before they had a chance to see them. The second issue was more complex, they were seeing organised criminal gangs setup fake fan profiles to buy and resell tickets throughout the season so that they would have preference when it came to important games such as local derbies and cup games.

We took a team of investigators to the club’s ground and spent a full day with the club’s merchandise department and a trading standards representative who had been previously working on the case. We identified key indicators on particular products and merchandisers that were of concern to the club and chose a selection of fixtures we would attend. On match day our investigators travelled to the ground and walked past a number of merchandisers obtaining covert footage of their products, they had been provided with match tickets so they were simply attending the game as any other fan. They were able to gather footage of the problematic merchandisers and purchase counterfeit merchandise that would later serve as evidence.

The second issue required our team to setup a number of aliases and addresses that could be used for delivery, a number of the test purchases were made online so we couldn’t risk using their own addresses through risk of compromise. The team began making ad-hoc purchases from specified websites and collating evidence about the accounts money was sent to, the names and addresses being provided and also in some situations the tickets were actually season tickets being ‘borrowed’ from genuine members.

The evidence we obtained was used as part of a larger investigation and due to the reselling of football tickets being illegal under section 166 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 we had to be meticulous with the preparation, handling and transfer of evidence. Overall the operation was a resounding success leading to the revocation of a number of merchandisers licenses and assisted with a number of criminal convictions.

 

Get in touch

Share this post with your friends

Related Articles

Money Jar
Person Tracing

Finance company dealing with multiple Debtors

One of the senior partners called RevealPI and asked if we could arrange a meeting to discuss our services in more detail. Upon speaking with the senior partners, we determined that in order to assist ABC Financial with their case that they would require a combination of services. They had recently invested in debt which required them to send out correspondence to their prospective debtors, however, before sending any documentation out they needed to ensure that the details they had for all individuals were correct, including their home addresses. It is important to note that all of our trace work is GDPR compliant in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

Read More »
Is My Husband Cheating
Person Tracing

The Woman Who Wouldn’t Divorce Her Husband

Many marriages break down but not every couple take the final step of divorce and often spend years separated but technically still married. We were tasked with assisting a man who had been separated from his wife for a number of years as he had the intentions of marrying his new partner but when he asked his wife to sign the paperwork she had disappeared. She had left her job and moved out of the property but fortunately we were able to trace her to a new address, when our process server knocked on the door she was completely oblivious and openly admitted that she was indeed the woman named in the divorce petition our process server held in his hand. She was served a Divorce petition and our client was able to move forward with his new partner.

Read More »
person tracing family
Person Tracing

Who Is My Birth Mother?

We were contacted by a woman in her late 20’s who had never met her birth mother as she was adopted at a young age, this was not new information as her parents had told her many years before. For a long time, she had sat on this information, unsure of whether she wanted to, or even could contact their mother and of course how she would go about it. The young woman decided to call us at this stage in her life as she was expecting to be a mother herself and merely wanted the opportunity to talk to her birth mother. Find out how we found that lost connection.

Read More »

Welcome Back to Reveal PI!

We’re thrilled to see you again and to show our appreciation, we’re offering you a 10% discount on your next inquiry. Use the code REVEAL10 when you get in touch.

Whether you’re seeking answers or peace of mind, our Team is here to provide the professional and discreet service you deserve.

Quote REVEAL10 to our team during your inquiry. We look forward to assisting you.