Doubts after 'unprecedented' arrests over luxury fakes

West Australian

7 hours ago

Three men accused of running a multimillion-dollar fake luxury goods empire have been bailed after a lawyer's extraordinary claim governments may be complicit by receiving tax on their sales.
Brothers Ahmad Kase Siddiqi, 30, and Ahmad Jawade Siddiqi, 33, as well as Shadi Skaf, 30, have been charged over the sale of everything from counterfeit Rolex watches to Cartier bracelets and Louis Vuitton bags.
When police raided their homes on Wednesday, they seized high-end cars including a Mercedes AMG and Lamborghinis.
But as a bail hearing resumed on Friday the trio's lawyers maintained it was unclear what crime the accused men had committed.
The federal government might be "aiding and abetting" or "conspiring" with the men by taking their income tax, Jawade Siddiqi's barrister Steven Boland alleged.
While police have said the scheme netted about $9.75 million in profits, that figure came from bank records stretching back to 2017.
Court documents indicate the alleged offences - which include dealing with the proceeds of crime - only took place from 2022.
There had also been no concealment of business activity, lawyers argued.
Mr Boland told Parramatta Local Court the decision to charge his client was "unprecedented" because police did not make more of an effort to shut down counterfeit sales at markets.
"If it's really criminal to import these items, to sell them and to knowingly import these items, you shouldn't be able to walk into a market ... and buy them," he told the court.
"There's no government information to that effect, just a suburban police station laying a charge."
There were no allegations of fraud, but a breach of intellectual property made by police, rather than brand owners, Mr Boland argued.
"It's not clear the brand owners even know or care," he said.
Describing the strength of the prosecution case as "moderate", Magistrate Emma Manea bailed the trio on strict conditions.
She found issues surrounding the date range of the alleged offending, along with what type of offence underpinned their dealing with proceeds of crime charges.
Bail conditions included paying a $50,000 surety, reporting to a police station twice a day, not using social media and not associating with one another.
During their raids earlier this week, officers confiscated a cache of more than 500 counterfeit luxury items, such as handbags, sneakers and watches - all imported from China - across three sites.
More than $250,000 in cash and a gel blaster firearm were also seized.
Fake watches of "extremely good quality" that resembled genuine articles worth more than $20,000 were sold to customers for $800 apiece, police said.
Police allege more than one of the trio was receiving Centrelink payments while benefiting from the proceeds of their crimes.
The allegedly tainted assets were now under the control of the NSW Crime Commission, its executive director said.