Phony Expo goods gang cracked

Counterfeit products from the Shanghai World Expo have surfaced in Beijing, according to local police.

Earlier this month, police discovered two gangs with fake Expo merchandise and seized more than 400,000 yuan worth of phony goods in conjunction with the arrests of six individuals, a municipal public security bureau officer said.

"These are the first cases involving the infringement of licensed products from the Expo in Beijing," Wang Yongli, vice-director with the economic crime investigation department within the bureau, told METRO.

Police said tourists discovered they had purchased counterfeit tickets when they were denied entrance to the Expo site. Authorities later determined the tickets were made in Beijing.

Phony memorabilia is also on sale in the capital. Three people surnamed Song, Long and Tu were allegedly caught selling fake souvenir photo albums in the Madian market in Xicheng district. More than 1,000 albums were confiscated, police said.

Song was forging Expo tickets along with stamp and coin albums while Long, the boss of a printing house, was in charge of binding the albums. Tu then registered a fake company to sell the unlicensed products, said Wu Chen, vice-captain of the economic crime investigation department.

When the trio sold the albums, they promised buyers free tickets to the Expo.

"Many innocent people were caught off guard," Wu said.

Wu said the gang was asking a price of more than 12,000 yuan for their most expensive album, which contained stamps and coins.

"Many of the souvenir coins are not in circulation, and the so-called silver coins in the fake albums are actually silver-plated copper coins," Wu told METRO.

Authorities uncovered a similar operation on June 7 in the same market, seizing 1,500 souvenir albums, including the popular "Expo passport".

Three thousand souvenir badges and 1,200 bank cards with the Expo logo were also found in Daxing district where the group had set up operations.

Police say they have established a blacklist system to supervise criminals whose crimes are not severe enough to be punished by the penal code.

More efforts have also been devoted to investigate higher level chains of the counterfeit industry in the capital.

Tourists are advised to buy souvenirs only from licensed branches and stores approved by the official organization of the Expo.