Joint work by the Food Standards Agency, the police, trading standards, environmental health officers and customs officials work together to crack a nationwide counterfeit vodka fraud that could have endangered people’s lives.
The manager of the limited company that was behind the nationwide distribution of the counterfeit Spar Imperial Vodka was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on 12 April 2011. He received a nine months
custodial sentence (suspended), plus 200 hours unpaid work to be completed within 12 months or he would have to serve his prison sentence. He was also ordered to pay £2000 by way of forfeiture towards the London Borough of Haringey for the council’s investigation work, plus a further £2000 towards legal costs.
In September 2008, intelligence produced using the Food Standards Agency’s national Food Fraud Database, led to the raid of a self-storage warehouse in the London Borough of Haringey. The premises were operated by Sisecam Ltd and run by Mr Ahmet Turgut Oztas. The raid found hundreds of bottles of counterfeit Spar Imperial Vodka, other illegal wines and spirits, and sheets of counterfeit customs duty stamps – all of which were seized by customs. A total of £3860 in cash found at the premises was also seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and, following sentencing, contributed towards the costs that Mr Oztas was ordered to pay.
