A Glenrothes shopkeeper who sold fake bottles of a popular wine has had his licences revoked by Fife Council.
Mohammed Arif and his company, Costcutters Southfield Ltd, lost their licences to sell alcohol, after trading standards officers found counterfeit wine in his shop in Glenrothes.
Fife licensing board revoked the personal liquor licence of Mohammed Arif and his premises licence for Costcutters Southfield Hill Ltd, Glenwood, Glenrothes, following a licence review.
As part of the Fake Free Fife campaign, trading standards officers visited the shop in 2013, after receiving intelligence that counterfeit goods were being sold there.
Mr Arif, 45, of Loyne Court, Glenrothes, was fined £1,000 and Costcutters Southfield Hill Ltd was fined £6,500 at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court in December for having for sale more than 80 fake bottles of Blossom Hill wine on two occasions at his Costcutter store in the Glenwood Centre, Glenrothes.
Councillor Bob Young, chairman of Fife licensing board, said: “We expect licence holders to comply with the appropriate licensing objectives, such as preventing crime and disorder and protecting and improving public health.
“In this case there were serious breaches of trading standards laws, which were brought to the attention of the licensing board. This is the first time that a premises licence has been revoked on the basis of a review arising from counterfeiting offences.”
During the case in December, Sheriff Alastair Thornton was shown company accounts for the year 2012/13 that outlined how the company had made a significant loss in the last financial year.
Arif a married father-of-four had denied selling the counterfeit wine at his store but was found guilty after trial.
The shopkeeper was convicted of, on March 9 2013, without the consent of the proprietor, Diageo North America, offering for sale 46 bottles of wine which bore a sign identical to, or likely to be mistaken for, the Blossom Hill words and design.
He was also charged with, on March 16 2013, having a further 18 bottles of the fake Blossom Hill wine on sale at his store.