Pooch food exposed as pig in a poke
August 25, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MINHANG police shut down an online store selling fake versions of famous-brand dog food as part of a campaign against economic crimes launched in the district this year.
The counterfeit dog food came to light when police at the Gumei Road Police Station found complaints online about products being sold via a vendor on Taobao.com, a popular online retail platform in China.
Investigators purchased A3 and Pet Time brands of dog food from the online store, which called itself Robbers' Economic Era. Both products turned out to be counterfeit.
Police eventually traced the online vendor to a villa in the Pudong New Area. Further investigation revealed that the villa held a stash of fake products and related packaging. Eight "employees" of the shop were also living at the site.
Police said the so-called "imported Pet Time dog food" sold by the store actually was produced by an unlicensed plant in North China's Hebei Province.
The shop apparently had enjoyed strong sales since it opened in June 2011. According to the trading records of Taobao.com, the shop was selling up to 60 packages of dog food a day. The A3 brand was the most popular product, with more than 10,000 packages sold before the scam was exposed.
Police also found that the online shop owner owned a bricks-and-mortar outlet called Liutian Pet Shop in a market in Xuhui District.
Two suspects in the case were detained by police, and another 10 are awaiting trial. Police are still calculating the actual sums involved in the case, officials said. The campaign against economic crimes has tackled about 700 cases, with 430 already resolved. Both figures are double those of a year earlier.
The counterfeit dog food came to light when police at the Gumei Road Police Station found complaints online about products being sold via a vendor on Taobao.com, a popular online retail platform in China.
Investigators purchased A3 and Pet Time brands of dog food from the online store, which called itself Robbers' Economic Era. Both products turned out to be counterfeit.
Police eventually traced the online vendor to a villa in the Pudong New Area. Further investigation revealed that the villa held a stash of fake products and related packaging. Eight "employees" of the shop were also living at the site.
Police said the so-called "imported Pet Time dog food" sold by the store actually was produced by an unlicensed plant in North China's Hebei Province.
The shop apparently had enjoyed strong sales since it opened in June 2011. According to the trading records of Taobao.com, the shop was selling up to 60 packages of dog food a day. The A3 brand was the most popular product, with more than 10,000 packages sold before the scam was exposed.
Police also found that the online shop owner owned a bricks-and-mortar outlet called Liutian Pet Shop in a market in Xuhui District.
Two suspects in the case were detained by police, and another 10 are awaiting trial. Police are still calculating the actual sums involved in the case, officials said. The campaign against economic crimes has tackled about 700 cases, with 430 already resolved. Both figures are double those of a year earlier.
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