Beyonce and Harry Potter trademarks among those breached by Bradford family

The case was brought by West Yorkshire Trading Standards following an investigation into an industrial-scale screen printing operation in which the registered trademarks of leading music artists, bands and sports teams were illegally printed onto clothing and distributed globally via eBay and Amazon.

Using a number of eBay and Amazon user accounts, in both their own and third-party names including those of their family members, the extended family generated global counterfeit sales of £472,898.09 over a five-year period.

The proceeds were then used to purchase a number of properties and high value motor vehicles. The trademarks breached included Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, Motorhead, Ramones, Beyonce, 5 Seconds of Summer, Harry Potter, Ed Sheeran and Nirvana as well as a number of others. 

Photographs released by West Yorkshire Trading Standards to illustrate the lavish lifestyle of the family

Brothers Amar Choudry, Yasir Choudry, and Qaisar Choudry of Duchy Crescent, Bradford, their brother Faisal Choudry of Duchy Drive, Bradford and their brother-in-law Mudasar Alishan of Oakdale Drive, Shipley, were each sentenced in February 2019 at Bradford Crown Court for their offending, each receiving a two-year custodial sentence suspended for two years with a requirement to undertake 300 hours unpaid work.

At yesterday’s hearing, held at Bradford Crown Court under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, Judge Colin Burn found the family had benefited by a total of £1,797,559.16 from their criminal enterprise.

Some of the heat transfers. Picture: WYTS

He ordered the family to pay confiscation orders totalling £1,513,163.49 which represented the total of their available assets. The full details of the confiscation orders made were as follows:

Yasir Choudry was ordered to pay £490,251.43 within three months or face a 30-month custodial sentence in default

Amar Choudry was ordered to pay £441,067.65 within three months or face a 30-month custodial sentence in default

Faisal Choudry was ordered to pay £217,800.06 within three months or face a two-year custodial sentence in default

Qaisar Choudry was ordered to pay £296,735.21 within three months or face a two-year custodial sentence in default

Mudasar Alishan was ordered to pay £110,047.64 within three months or face a 12-month custodial sentence.

Linda Davis, Trading Standards Manager said: “Counterfeiting is not a victimless crime. It has a detrimental impact on the brand, consumers and the economy. Counterfeit traders undercut genuine retailers and the proceeds are often then used to fund organised crime. We will continue to robustly investigate and prosecute those who benefit from the theft of intellectual property.

"Those convicted of offences such as these can also expect to have their assets identified and confiscated."