Published: Wednesday, 1st July, 2009 3:00pm

Shop fined for selling illegal vodka

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A SHOP in Slough has been fined more than £3,000 for possessing counterfeit vodka.

The owners of Roshni Food and Wine in the High Street were issued with a £500 fine and also ordered to pay £3,000 of costs at Reading Crown Court after being caught out by Slough trading standards.

The vodka had been bought from a person in an anonymous van who called at the shop.

Although a receipt was given for a cash sale, the company did not exist, the receipt was a poor attempt at making the transaction look legitimate and no checks were carried out on the goods.

Senior Trading Standards Officer Peter Adshead said: 'The vodka, although not containing harmful levels of methanol, still could have been dangerous to anyone drinking it as it had not been through the normal checks carried out by a reputable producer.

"Quality Control by counterfeiters is non existent and if something goes wrong there is no redress due to the shadowy nature of their existence.

"In addition, counterfeiting supports other crime such as drugs, people smuggling and terrorism and harms legitimate traders as the criminals behind the operation do not pay tax, duty, rates or other overheads.'

The prosecution follows a major operation by trading standards who found several shops selling counterfeit drink, lighters and condoms.

Of 30 shops investigated, eight were found to have varying quantities of counterfeit goods.

The most serious have been taken to court, with a total of three court cases. Four more were given a simple caution which stays on their record for three years and the final case was referred to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for further investigation.