The UK’s specialist IP crime unit arrested a man today, May 22, on suspicion of committing fraud against the Royal Mail in order to sell counterfeit CDs.
He is alleged to have used a suspended Royal Mail postal account, which already owed the organisation more than £30,000, in an attempt to post more than 2,000 packages containing the fakes for free.
The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) arrested the 28-year-old man in Morecombe after the Royal Mail notified officers that it had seized the suspicious packets at the beginning of 2013.
Albums from the artist Olly Murs and the band Stereophonics were allegedly copied.
Andy Fyfe, head of PIPCU, said: “Intellectual property crime is a serious matter. Not only is it breaking the law, but it harms the livelihoods of hard-working people and the businesses they work for.
“PIPCU is a specialist unit dedicated to tackling IP crime and we want to ensure that unsuspecting consumers are not cheated by the individuals behind these criminal operations.”
The man has been released on bail.