Rehan Ahmed, 40, has been jailed for three and a half years after being found guilty of orchestrating a large-scale counterfeit vinyl operation. The scheme involved producing around 200,000 fake records of albums by artists such as The Beatles, Madonna, and Ed Sheeran.
Ahmed utilized outdated equipment, including 70-year-old vinyl presses, to produce the counterfeit records. These were then packaged to mimic authentic releases and sold to record shops, high street stores, and collectors. Over a seven-year period, his company, Phoenix of Vinyl, is estimated to have generated £2.7 million from these sales.
The operation was uncovered when the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) made a test purchase that revealed copyright infringement. This led to an investigation by the City of London Police, who raided Ahmed's manufacturing plant in Acton, west London. The raid resulted in the seizure of nearly 3,000 vinyl records, four old vinyl presses, and 3,000 metal stampers, totaling 18 tons of evidence. Police described this as the UK's largest seizure of counterfeit vinyl records.
At Inner London Crown Court, Ahmed was convicted of being the mastermind behind the extensive operation. Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt of the City of London Police stated that the force would continue to pursue criminals targeting the creative industries. Peter Ratcliffe of the BPI highlighted the significance of the conviction, noting that while it cannot recover the estimated tens of millions lost to artists, labels, and retailers, it effectively dismantled a major criminal enterprise and serves as a warning to others involved in music counterfeiting.