Two Jailed after Pandora and Amazon Smash Counterfeit Network
July 01, 25
(IDEX Online) - A collaboration by Pandora, the world's biggest jewelry brand, and the e-commerce platform Amazon, has smashed a sophisticated counterfeiting network in China and led to the jailing of two crime bosses.
It also led to the seizure of thousands of fake Pandora jewelry items in a raid by Chinese law enforcement.
Pandora began investigating the source of counterfeit jewelry from China in 2020 after a series of customs seizures.
"It worked with counterfeit crimes unit at Amazon to identify two sellers operating a large-scale counterfeit network.
The probe led to the arrest and conviction of two people in March of this year. They were jailed for a combined total of five years and fined by a court in Shanghai for selling counterfeit items in several European countries.
Pandora, the Danish jeweler best known for its charm bracelets, said it was "committed to protecting our brand from the threat of counterfeit products".
Peter Ring, senior vice president and general counsel at Pandora, said: "By combining our global brand protection expertise with Amazon's investigative capabilities, we supported local law enforcement in dismantling a sophisticated criminal network.
"This case marks an important step forward in our ongoing efforts to safeguard the integrity of our brand and the quality our customers expect and trust us to deliver."
Kebharu Smith, director of Amazon's counterfeit crimes unit, said: "Counterfeiting is one of the oldest crimes in history, and we're tackling it with our cutting-edge proactive tools and technology.
"Our collaboration with Pandora successfully dismantled a ring of bad actors, removing counterfeits from the broader supply chain."
Pic courtesy Pandora shows some of the seized counterfeit items.