China: Prison sentence for distributor of fake Yokohama wheels

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. has reported the “successful completion” of its latest effort to eliminate counterfeit versions of its aluminium wheels in China. The distributor of these fake products has been sentenced to prison and also fined.

The process began with a complaint filed by Yokohama Rubber with the Foshan Public Security Bureau regarding a distributor of alloy wheels that imitated Yokohama’s Advan Racing wheel range. The distributor was active in Guangdong Province, in the cities of Foshan and Guangzhou, selling the counterfeit wheels online and via retail outlets.

Acting on the complaint and information provided by Yokohama Rubber, the Foshan authorities seized over 900 counterfeit aluminium wheels on 25 October 2017. The abovementioned penalties were determined by the People’s Court of Foshan earlier this year.

This is the second occasion that Yokohama Rubber has discovered and stopped the sale of counterfeit Advan Racing rims in China; a distributor in Guangdong Province was also fined and sentenced to prison for similar activities in 2014.