Acocks Green couple sentenced over £2m counterfeit clothing business

A husband and wife who ran a counterfeit clothing business from their home in Acocks Green for more than five years have been sentenced after an investigation by Birmingham Trading Standards.

Shahzad Ahmed, 41, was jailed for six and a half years at Birmingham Crown Court on 7 April for offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. His wife, Afshan Shahzad, was given a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and 10 days of rehabilitation. Both had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

How the operation worked

The couple ran a company called Smass Ltd from their home in Bricksmith Close, printing fake logos onto plain T-shirts and selling them to customers through online marketplaces.

Trading Standards estimates the harm to legitimate brands, including Marvel, Warner Brothers, Paw Patrol and Gucci, at around £2 million.

Warnings ignored

The business carried on despite several formal warnings from Trading Standards. Even after officers executed a search warrant and seized counterfeit goods, and the couple were interviewed under caution, they continued to trade illegally.

The charges covered offering and selling goods bearing fake trade marks between April 2016 and August 2023, possessing counterfeit transfers for supply in August 2021, and, for Ahmed, converting the proceeds of the sales. The most serious trade mark offence carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

"Despite repeated warnings and clear opportunities to cease their activities, Mr Ahmed and Ms Shahzad continued to operate illegally for personal gain," said Sajeela Naseer, Director of Regulation and Enforcement at Birmingham City Council.

She said the case was "a serious and deliberate attempt to profit from criminal activity at the expense of consumers, legitimate businesses, and well-known brands", and that the sentence should send "a strong message that counterfeiting will not be tolerated in Birmingham".

Why counterfeits matter

Counterfeit goods undercut honest traders, and fake products often fail to meet safety and quality standards. Selling them online can make it easier for sellers to reach large numbers of buyers while staying hidden, which is why Trading Standards works with the online platforms as well as with brand owners and other enforcement agencies.

Birmingham Trading Standards says it will keep working with those partners to find and disrupt similar operations. Residents can report suspected counterfeit sellers through the council's website, or through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline.

Afshan Shahzad worked alongside her husband in the business, printing the fake logos, and the couple sent the finished items to customers who had ordered them through online marketplaces.