Counterfeit clothes donated to prison
Everyone seems to want name brand clothing, so much so that some unscrupulous manufacturers even fake it, selling items that infringe on the trademark of famous labels. But today, instead of wasting some of these items which made their way into Belize, they were put to good use. Jacqueline Woods reports.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
This morning two hundred and twenty-six boxes containing counterfeit name brand clothing were loaded into the back of a truck and taken to the Kolbe Foundation in Hattieville. At the prison facility, the identifiable counterfeit trademarks and logos will be removed. The six hundred thousand dollar worth off fake Levi’s, Dockers, and Tommy Hilfiger merchandise was seized during a routine check by Belize Customs. The boxes arrived by ship via Jamaica and Curacao from the Far East.
John Burks, Pres., American Chamber of Commerce of Bz.
“It’s an astounding amount of money. Again, this load here is six hundred thousand Belize dollars, and this is one shipment. It doesn?t take very many shipments like that to be an astronomical amount of money. Worldwide, it?s a multi-billion dollar problem.”
The clothing was inspected by representatives from the various name brand companies who verified that the merchandise was not authentic. However, instead of agreeing to burn the goods as is normally done, it was decided to donate the garments to Kolbe foundation and other charitable organisations like the Lions Club in Belmopan, Rotary Club of Orange Walk, and Teeny Tiny Hands.
John Burks
“Their concern of course is to make sure that the good do not get back on the market. We discuss with them if there is some way we could disfigure their logos. We went over that very carefully, they told us what they would accept, what they wouldn?t accept, then we agreed to do that. Obviously it?s a manpower thing and the logical choice would be for Kolbe to deal with this as they have adequate manpower, as well as security.”
Kolbe Foundation Chairman John Woods says he is just grateful to all involve for the donation that is very much needed at the institution.
John Woods, Chairman, Kolbe Foundation
“We have got a lot people that come in and they have absolutely nothing. They are in their bare shorts they?re barefooted and everything and the whole Kolbe thing is to help people turn their lives around, and it?s hard to do it when they are hungry and naked and they don?t have clothes. Also, we?ve been having some indigents come in, the vagrants off of the streets and those people come in without anything too.”
Jacqueline Woods reporting for News 5.
The importer of the counterfeit merchandise has been identified as Shalimar Limited, a company registered in the Corozal Free Zone. No one was charged in connection with the incident.
In related news, an Orange Walk businessman was today found guilty of customs offences. Alfredo Urbina was ordered to pay a five hundred dollar fine and an additional two thousand dollars after he was found guilty of knowingly dealing with goods for which custom duties have not been paid. The goods have been identified as seventeen cases of 1-2-3 cooking oil and twenty cases of Foca brand soap powder. Urbina is to return to court to answer charges of traffic related offences that resulted from the same incident.
