Merton Council has put a stop to a Wimbledon firm selling fake goods after an investigation by the council’s trading standards team saw those responsible fined a total of £6,000 and ordered to pay £2,500 in costs.

Wimbledon Magistrates heard how Navaid Ahmad and Atif Mahmood, directors of internet firm K.A.N.N Trading Ltd, admitted importing and selling fake lateral thigh trainers which contained high levels of lead and mercury.

Merton’s trading standards officers discovered the company was selling the counterfeit exercise equipment after a customer in Northumberland bought a lateral thigh trainer from the firm’s website and was worried about its poor quality.

The trading standards team investigated and seized over 300 pieces of equipment from the firm to stop them being sold on to other unwary customers. These will now be destroyed after the court ordered the firm to give them up.

Merton Council’s cabinet member for regeneration Councillor Diane Neil Mills said: “We are committed to making Merton a safe place to live and work and we strive to protect our residents and businesses from the detrimental impact counterfeit goods can have on people’s health and on the economy.

“This successful investigation proves that those who think they can foist fakes onto the public will not get away with it.”

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