Suspended jail sentence for eBay fraudster.
Friday, 29th January 2016.
A Haverhill resident has received a 5 month suspended jail sentence and ordered to pay £4,800 costs after pleading guilty to giving the impression goods could be sold, when they were in fact deemed to be unsafe, and to two counts of failing to carry out a product recall on unsafe products.
Mr Yacuba Ibrahim was sentenced to 6 months per offence, reduced to 5 months, to run concurrently, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to forfeit all remaining products, meaning the generators will now be destroyed.
Upon sentencing Judge John Devaux said “This case concerns the safety of consumers to which you paid scant regard.”
Suffolk Trading Standards were alerted to the activities of Mr Ibrahim when a member of the public got in touch to question the authenticity of the ‘Honda’ generators being sold by Mr Ibrahim via eBay. Suffolk Trading Standards subsequently spoke with the Trade Mark representative for Honda who was able to confirm the product wasn’t manufactured by them.
In May 2014 a warrant was issued by the Magistrates court allowing Suffolk Trading Standards to seize the goods. Two different brands of generators and a couple of other power tools were seized and subsequently tested and found to be unsafe.
Mr Ibrahim was then served a notice requiring him to recall the unsafe generators , something he failed to act upon. He was also unable to supply chain information and technical files to clarify whether any of the goods up for sale had been through the relevant safety procedures.
Welcoming the outcome of the prosecution case, Councillor Sarah Stamp, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for communities said: “It is completely unacceptable for businesses to supply equipment which puts consumers at risk.
“In this case, Trading Standards had to intervene and carry out a product safety recall on the generators after they were tested and failed. This is the responsibility of the supplier, which is one of the reasons formal action was taken in this case. Retailers have a duty to supply compliant products but also take action to protect consumers if a problem is found.
“Our Trading Standards team works tirelessly to ensure that businesses comply with relevant safety legislation and that the goods supplied are properly described and safe to use.”
If you suspect someone is selling unsafe goods, contact Suffolk Trading Standards on: 03454 040506.
Mr Yacuba Ibrahim was sentenced to 6 months per offence, reduced to 5 months, to run concurrently, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to forfeit all remaining products, meaning the generators will now be destroyed.
Upon sentencing Judge John Devaux said “This case concerns the safety of consumers to which you paid scant regard.”
Suffolk Trading Standards were alerted to the activities of Mr Ibrahim when a member of the public got in touch to question the authenticity of the ‘Honda’ generators being sold by Mr Ibrahim via eBay. Suffolk Trading Standards subsequently spoke with the Trade Mark representative for Honda who was able to confirm the product wasn’t manufactured by them.
In May 2014 a warrant was issued by the Magistrates court allowing Suffolk Trading Standards to seize the goods. Two different brands of generators and a couple of other power tools were seized and subsequently tested and found to be unsafe.
Mr Ibrahim was then served a notice requiring him to recall the unsafe generators , something he failed to act upon. He was also unable to supply chain information and technical files to clarify whether any of the goods up for sale had been through the relevant safety procedures.
Welcoming the outcome of the prosecution case, Councillor Sarah Stamp, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for communities said: “It is completely unacceptable for businesses to supply equipment which puts consumers at risk.
“In this case, Trading Standards had to intervene and carry out a product safety recall on the generators after they were tested and failed. This is the responsibility of the supplier, which is one of the reasons formal action was taken in this case. Retailers have a duty to supply compliant products but also take action to protect consumers if a problem is found.
“Our Trading Standards team works tirelessly to ensure that businesses comply with relevant safety legislation and that the goods supplied are properly described and safe to use.”
If you suspect someone is selling unsafe goods, contact Suffolk Trading Standards on: 03454 040506.
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