Calculator crooks busted in China for mass-producing fake Casios and Citizens
Police in a Guangdong city bust a calculator counterfeiting ring that has sold fake merchandise all over China
Guangdong police seized 82,926 fake calculators and arrested 113 suspects in a crackdown on the counterfeit counting machines this week.
The site, which was disguised as an electronics factory in Zijin county, had pushed out merchandise worth more than 2,700 yuan (HK$3,400). According to reports by the Heyuan Municipal Public Security Bureau, the factory was the main player in a nationwide counterfeit calculator scheme.
Heyuan authorities became aware of the counterfeit calculator ring in April, when they learned that a group led by suspect Li Mouhong, 42, had been mass-producing fake calculators since December 2012.
Li allegedly rented a five-story house under a false name, installed four production lines and recruited more than 100 people to manufacture calculators that would then be sold in Guangxi, Hebei, Zhejiang and Hunan provinces.
Other factories were also located in these provinces, each producing up to 2,000 calculators a day, the report said. Depending on the model, each calculator's market value ranged from 10 yuan to 300 yuan.