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Fake Olympics merchandise seized
Hundreds of fake Olympics t-shirts and baseball caps were seized during a raid at a Victoria souvenir shop.
Officers from Westminster Council's trading standards found more than 1,300 items bearing the 2012 Olympic logo at the store in Buckingham Palace Road.
All of the items were poor quality imitations of the real thing and were not official merchandise.
More than 100 items of counterfeit football memorabilia which were also on sale in the shop were seized at the same time.
The council was alerted to the scam after a member of the public tipped off the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), which then contacted the council.
The trader indicated he now wishes to help the council with the investigation which should lead to more counterfeit merchandise being removed from sale.
He will now be prosecuted under the Olympic Logo Protection Act 1995, and could face a maximum fine of ã20,000.
This is higher than the maximum fine which magistrates can normally apply as the offence is considered to be highly lucrative before and during the Games.
Councillor Brian Connell, Westminster Council's cabinet member for business, enterprise and skills, said: "In less than two years time the eyes of the world will be on London when the Olympic games come to the UK.
"In the run up to and during the 2012 Games we will be on the look out for counterfeit Olympic clothing and merchandise on sale in Westminster which are simply poor imitations of the real thing and serve to only exploit real sports fans.
"We hope the actions taking by our trading standards team against this particular retailer will serve as a strong warning to others who may be thinking they can make some easy money by buying and selling illicit Olympic merchandise in central London."
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Erm, just what is the bigger rip-off here?
A few fly-by-night clowns selling t-shirts and baseball caps?
Or the circa ã10 billion of public money that will be spent on elite sport on a flood plane that is to be covered with concrete in East London?
What is the bigger fraud here?
Mmm... difficult one that.
Is it really worth throwing public money at busting t-shirt peddling carpet baggers just so the gullible public can be protected from one lot of rip-off merchants, only to turn on the telly and watch ã10bn be spent in two weeks by some bigger crooks?