R’Ellite Raiments Ltd and Rajkumar Karuppiah Rajan aged 40, both from Thatcham, entered guilty pleas to seven offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994.
On 11 February 2021 the Public Protection Partnership were informed that multiple pallet loads of potentially counterfeit clothing, including T shirts, polo shirts, tracksuits, jeans, trousers, shirts and dresses were at a storage facility in Hampshire, and that the owner of the goods was R’Ellite Rainments Ltd. The items were branded with trademarks such as Tommy Hilfiger, G-Star, Ralph Lauren, Diesel and Levi.
On 17February 2021 officers seized 10 pallets of clothing from the facility. They then liaised with the relevant trademark holders who confirmed that the entire shipment was counterfeit. Neither the Company or Mr Rajan had been authorised or permitted to use, sell or distribute goods bearing the trademarks.
R’Ellite Raiments Ltd and its Director Mr Rajan appeared before Reading Crown Court on 4October 2023 having previously entered guilty pleas to seven offences. Mr Rajan was sentenced for the first offence to 14 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, with 150 hours of unpaid work requirement, and 40 days of Rehabilitation Activity Requirement to be undertaken with probation. The same applied to the other 6 offences to run concurrently.
Lee Dillon Chairman of the Joint Public Protection Committee and West Berkshire’s Executive Member for Public Protection said, “We are pleased to have exposed this fraudulent activity and brought Mr Rajan to justice. The impact of this kind of fraud is far reaching, in both economic terms and of consumer confidence and trust. We take our consumer protection role seriously and will never hesitate to prosecute in circumstances like this.”
Mitigating factors included that the Defendant was noted as a family man, of previous good character and had entered a guilty plea and was therefore entitled to a discount in relation to sentence.
The Court set a timetable for confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Company will be sentenced at the conclusion of these proceedings.
