Southall man jailed over £2.7m counterfeit vinyl operation
Tue 29 Sep 2026
Rehan Ahmed, 40, of Cranleigh Gardens, Southall, was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on 18 September 2026 following an investigation into a large-scale counterfeit vinyl operation.
According to City of London Police, Ahmed generated £2,743,000 from counterfeit record sales between 2017 and 2024.
The records were manufactured at an industrial unit in Acton under the name Phoenix of Vinyl. The operation was uncovered after the case was referred to the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Thousands of counterfeit records seized
Police raided the Acton premises in February 2024, where they discovered 2,791 vinyl records.
Officers also found four vinyl presses, believed to be around 70 years old, approximately 3,000 metal stampers and thousands of sleeves and centre labels.
In total, around 18 tonnes of evidence was recovered from the site.
The seized records were subsequently examined by record labels, which confirmed that the titles infringed the copyright of 108 artists.
The counterfeit records included music by internationally known artists including Beyoncé, Adele, Bad Bunny, Ariana Grande and Drake
Seven-year operation
Police said the manufacturing operation had been running covertly since 2017 and was capable of producing counterfeit recordings on an industrial scale.
The counterfeit records were sold between 2017 and 2024, generating the £2.743 million identified by investigators.
Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit at City of London Police, said the operation had taken advantage of the renewed popularity of vinyl records.
Ahmed was sentenced to three years and six months in prison at Inner London Crown Court.
City of London Police described the case as the largest seizure of counterfeit vinyl records of its kind in the UK.
Photo credit: City of London Police (Rehan Ahmed)
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