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Vinyl Forger Netted Profits to the Tune of £2.7m From Massive Fake Record Stash
Police said the operation used four 70-year-old presses and 2,791 counterfeit records, costing artists, labels and retailers millions of pounds.
- On Friday, Rehan Ahmed, 40, of Southall, west London, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison at Inner London Crown Court for operating what police described as "a longrunning, highly organised and entirely unlicensed manufacturing operation."
- Police raided Ahmed's Phoenix of Vinyl warehouse in Acton in February 2024 after the British Phonographic Industry made a test purchase, uncovering 18 tonnes of evidence including 2,791 counterfeit records spanning 108 different artists.
- Using four 70-year-old vinyl presses over seven years, Ahmed generated an estimated £2.7m in profit by forging works by The Beatles, Taylor Swift, and Ed Sheeran.
- Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt of the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit said Ahmed exploited the "resurgence" of vinyl records, while Peter Ratcliffe, BPI director of content protection, called the conviction "hugely significant."
- The vinyl market continues to grow, with 7.6m units sold in 2025 marking a 13.3% year-on-year increase, yet counterfeit operations increasingly exploit this resurgence at creators' expense.
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12 Articles
Evening Standard+3 Reposted by 3 other sources
Vinyl forger netted profits to the tune of £2.7m from massive fake record stash
Works by artists including Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Ariana Grande were among the largest ever seizure of fake vinyl made by UK police.
·London, United Kingdom
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The IndependentReposted by 
The Independent (US)
The Independent (US)Vinyl forger made £2.7m profit selling fake Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran records
Rehan Ahmed, 40, was jailed for three-and-a-half years on Friday
·London, United Kingdom
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources12
Leaning Left6Leaning Right0Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution60% Left
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources lean Left
60% Left
L 60%
C 40%
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