News Fraudulent landlord jailed A landlord who misled tenants and rented out an illegally converted property has been jailed for 155 days, having failed to pay a confiscation order that looked to recover his criminal gains. As reported in the July 2015 issue of TS Today, Majid Saniinejad, from Stoke Newington, was prosecuted by Southwark Trading Standards and the councils planning enforcement team in April 2015, for breaching a planning notice and trading standard offences. He had illegally converted a property in Peckham into two small flats, forcing tenants to live in cramped and squalid conditions. After a trial at Croydon Magistrates Court, it was found that Saniinejad and his company, Hertford (UK), had not been professionally diligent and had misled tenants by not telling them the property was subject to planning enforcement notices. Saniinejad also admitted ignoring the councils planning notice to return the two flats back into one unit. He was fined a total of 2,500, with costs of 16,885. On 28 January 2016, at Croydon Crown Court, Southwark Council applied for a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act, for the recovery of rents totalling 24,000. Saniinejad was given until 28 April 2016 to make full payment and warned that failure to do so could result in a prison sentence. Saniinejad was challenged at Westminster Magistrates Court on 21November 2017, because 14,644 of the 24,000 confiscation still remained to be paid. District Judge Shenagh Bayne activated the defaultjail sentence, ruling that: According to the assets listed, you werewell able to pay the entire amount and you have wilfully refused to pay. Iam not satisfied that you have made sufficient efforts to pay. I find culpable neglect. multi-agency crackdown on illegal tobacco businesses identified from intelligence and complaints from members of the public. The illegal products were seized during raids in Harehills in Leeds, and Dewsbury and Batley in Kirklees. If the goods had been genuine, the value of the haul would have been nearly 160,000. The operation was part of the Keep It Out campaign, which is funded by the five public health authorities in West Yorkshire. The programme is in its third year and uses marketing campaigns and multi-agency enforcement to tackle the problems of the illicit tobacco trade. To date, it has taken more than 2.8 million illegal cigarettes and more than 850kg of illegal hand-rolling tobacco off the streets. iSToCk.Com /zyAbiCh Nearly 275,000 illicit cigarettes and 57kg of illegal hand-rolling tobacco, worth around 75,000, was seized in West Yorkshire under Operation Cheltenham. West Yorkshire Trading Standards in partnership with colleagues from Yorkshire and Humberside Immigration and West Yorkshire Police targeted hotspot areas and Fine for company selling recalled products A national retailer of second-hand computers and video games has been fined for selling unsafe goods, following an investigation by Dorset Trading Standards. On 30 November 2017, at Poole Magistrates Court, CeX admitted two offences under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 of selling two unsafe Microsoft Surface tablet-style computers with plug-in power cords that failed the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994. The company was fined 20,000, and ordered to pay prosecution costs of 6,339 and a 170 victim surcharge. The court heard that a Wimborne resident had purchased two of the tablet computers from CeX online. When delivered, he plugged the first one in to charge and the power cord began to melt and smoke. When he examined the power cord of the second computer, it was also damaged and he did not use it. An expert examination arranged by Dorset TS concluded that, as a result of the cord being wound tightly around the power supply by a previous owner, the strands in the wire had split, causing arcing and the risk of electric shock and fire. Microsoft had issued a product recall in January 2016 once this fault became apparent and this was widely publicised. The court heard that it would have been simple for CeX to check if the product was subject to a recall, but it had not. In mitigation, CeX accepted that the computers should not have been sold and apologised to the court. It said it had now introduced screen testing for all electrical appliances, improved staff training and changed its procedures. During the hearing, the chair of the magistrates described this as a serious offence that could have resulted in a death. However, it was accepted that it was an isolated incident and that the company had now changed their procedures, cooperated with the trading standards investigation and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. Trader had 600 fake chargers A Peckham trader who was found in possession of more than 600 fake iPhone chargers has been given a 12-month community order, with 120 hours unpaid work and costs of 1,410. His company was fined a further 1,500 at Camberwell Green Magistrates Court on 12 December. Nural Rahaman, of New Cross, is the director of Safi Electronics and Communications, of Peckham. He admitted offences under the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 and the Trade Marks Act 1994, in a prosecution brought by Southwark Council. The councils visit to Rahaman was part of a long-running trading standards campaign, designed to reduce the risk of fire from fake chargers by checking mobile phone accessory shops across the borough. FCA plans dont go far enough Citizens Advice (CA) has said that Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) plans to change how credit card firms offer credit limit increases do not go far enough to protect consumers from problem debts. In December, the FCA announced a new six-week consultation period on the proposals, which ends on 25 January. illegal cigarettes seized in West yorkshire and Staffordshire A total of 33,000 counterfeit cigarettes, more than 8kg of illegal hand-rolling tobacco and 13 litres of suspected non-duty paid vodka were seized in Staffordshire during December. Staffordshire Trading Standards officers, aided by sniffer dogs, raided shops in Tamworth, Rugeley and Burton. The premises were targeted as part of an intelligence-led operation to tackle illicit tobacco sales. It was the latest in a series of countywide visits by trading standards officers, who were supported by Staffordshire Police. The cigarettes uncovered are thought to have been illegally imported. Trading standards officers are now considering further enforcement action. Staffordshire County Councils communities leader, Gill Heath, said: Our trading standards team successfully disrupted the supply of potentially dangerous tobacco and cigarettes in Staffordshire. This is part of our ongoing operation to tackle the sale of illicit and counterfeit tobacco. drainage firm director prosecuted for unnecessary work The director of a former drainage company based in Ferndown, Dorset, has been prosecuted and fined after a consumer was misled about unnecessary work to their home. Darrel Anthony Elswood, of Bournemouth, pleaded guilty to an offence of misleading a consumer under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 after an investigation by Dorset Trading Standards. Elswood was the director of National Drainage Solutions, which had cold-called a resident and persuaded her that work was required on her drains. It eventually charged her 5,712, but expert evidence showed that a reasonable total price would have been 1,440 and that not all of the work detailed in the invoices had been carried out. At Bournemouth Crown Court on 22 November 2017, Elswood was fined 2,000 and ordered to pay 4,200 costs. This was in addition to 6,898 compensation he had agreed to pay to three consumers at an earlier hearing.