Five men sentenced over counterfeit vodka plant
So where does Europe’s "Wild East" really begin? Apparently as far west as the UK. On
25 November 2011 five men, who masterminded a major counterfeit vodka manufacturing and bottling plant in Leicestershire, were sentenced to a total of 17 years and ten months at Hull Crown Court, the Morning Advertiser reported.
The men were all charged with Conspiracy to Cheat the Revenue. A sixth man will be sentenced on 5 December 2011.
The plot was uncovered in an industrial unit by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) when they carried out raids in September 2009. They seized 9,000 bottles of fake vodka, branded as "Glen’s", manufacturing equipment, bottles and counterfeit packaging – labels and cardboard boxes – at the remote industrial unit at Moscow Farm (how appropriately named!) near Great Dalby, Leicestershire.
The bottles of vodka seized featured professionally printed labels, duty stamps and bottle tops – all of which were counterfeit.
The excise loss to the Exchequer on this haul alone was GBP 1.5 million (EUR 1.8 million).
There was no mention during the court proceedings as to where the vodka had come from.
Apparently, this was a substantial production, bottling and distribution plant with the infrastructure to distribute large quantities of counterfeit Glen’s vodka to independent stores throughout the country.
As in Germany, the gang planned to adulterate the vodka with poisonous methylated spirit.
In the raid over 25,000 litres of pure denatured alcohol (methylated spirits) were seized, enough to make around 100,000 bottles of vodka.
Denatured alcohol is used as a solvent and is coloured purple to distinguish it from drinkable alcohol as it is not fit for human consumption.
Evidence found suggests that bleach was used by the gang to remove the colouring to make it clear before diluting to the required strength.
There was no mention in the media which bleach the gang used – whether it was chlorine or peroxide. Hopefully it was not chlorine, which would have been the cheaper option, as the use of chlorine would have created a very fine mess in the final product, chemists say.
At least a further 165,000 bottles of fake vodka were manufactured at Moscow Farm during 2008 and 2009.
We never thought that the Russian "Na zdrowie" ("to your health") should be taken literally in western Europe too.
