An eBay trader who sold toxic counterfeit toys has been handed a suspended prison sentence, order to 250 hours of unpaid work and disqualified as a company director for two years, according to Cambridge News.
Kwun Ho Chan, 28 of Wensleydale Street, Hartlepool, was sentenced a Cambridge Crown Court having pleaded guilty to twelve charges relating to counterfeit toys, thirteen charges of toy safety breaches and money laundering.
During the trail, trading standards officers said that counterfeit Big Hero 6 figure was found to contain more than 200 times the legal limit of phthalate, which is known to be toxic if ingested.
Chan’s company called K&B Station Ltd and traded online with the eBay seller handle “Kingbox Station”. Chan’s illegal activity was uncovered after a copyright infringing Disney Frozen doll was purchased from Kingbox Station on eBay.
A search was carried out at Chan’s former address on Apthorpe Way in Cambridge, where more than 5,000 of counterfeit and potentially unsafe toys imported from China were seized.
The counterfeit and potentially unsafe products included brands, such as Disney’s Frozen, Secret Life of Pets, Despicable Me, Paw Patrol, Pokémon, Hello Kitty, Arsenal, Peppa Pig, Angry Birds and Big Hero 6.
Chan failed to cooperate with several Port Authorities regarding the unsafe and incorrectly labeled toys. He also denied having any other storage facility for the toys, however, one was found and CCTV footage showed it was emptied soon after the house was searched.
All the confiscated counterfeit and unsafe goods were ordered to be forfeited and destroyed. Chan’s money laundering charges under the Proceeds of Crime Act will remain on file, his six-month prison sentence is suspended for two years.