DAMMAM/RIYADH, 3 August — A Commerce Ministry squad raided a national factory in the Eastern Province on Wednesday following a tip-off that it has been producing imitation ladies vanity bags.
Muhammad Al-Shawy, acting director of the ministry’s office in the region, told Arab News that the factory activities were under scrutiny prior to the raid. The factory is likely to be closed for three months and will be asked to pay a fine of SR100,000.
The vanity bags manufactured at the factory do not show the country of origin. But it has stickers in English saying “Modeled in Italy” to cheat shoppers.
The ministry squad seized 1,200 imitation bags as well as the equipment used for forging trademarks. The case has been passed to the committee in charge of combating trade fraud to take action against the factory.
In a related development, the ministry’s officials closed down two illegal warehouses in Manfouha and Shifa for forging the expiry date on packets of sweets and packing them in an unhygienic manner, violating SASO specifications.
Dr. Abdul Ali Al-Abdul Ali, director of the department for combating commercial fraud at the ministry, said the warehouses belonged to a company specializing in supplying foodstuffs and confectioneries in Dammam.
The department’s officials seized 24,000 packets of chocolates as well as 360 empty boxes which did not carry any trade marks. They also found considerable amounts of candies and nuts at the warehouses ready for packing and distribution.
The department called the owner of the warehouses to question him before passing the case to the anti-trade fraud committee.
Workers at the warehouses said their sponsor owned several branches of the company in Riyadh and the Eastern Province.
