HANGZHOU, Zhejiang - Law enforcement officers from East China's Zhejiang province have seized 8,000 fake Shanghai Expo mascots, the largest forgery case of its kind in Zhejiang since the opening of the Shanghai World Expo.
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Law enforcement officers found piles of fakes stashed in an obscure clothing factory, including 112 finished products and 7,888 semi-finished ones.
The factory owner was a man surnamed Hu, according to initial investigations. Hu admitted to purchasing 980 kilograms of cloth at the price of 25 yuan per kilogram and 20,000 Expo emblem labels in June, and started production soon after. He later sold mascots to street vendors at the price of 10 to 40 yuan a piece. Certified mascots usually wholesale for about 50 to 100 yuan.
Investigators also found Hu's processing plant was operating illegally without a business license. Hu claimed to have no knowledge that the use of Expo symbols must be granted by the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.
As the owner had no financial accounts, it was impossible for the regulators to calculate his business revenue. Therefore, penalties would be imposed after further investigation. All illegal products have been seized at the factory, investigators said.
