Husband jailed over fake DVD operation

A husband and wife who made £240,000 selling fake DVDs manufactured at their Black Country home have been given prison sentences.

Simon Evans, a supervisor for an engineering firm, was yesterday handed a 21-month jail sentence.

His wife Trudy, a receptionist for Sandwell Leisure Trust, was given a 36-week sentence suspended for two years.

The couple, from Oldbury, spent £25,000 on their daughter's wedding and bought a car – a £17,000 Honda FRV with the number plate S15TRU with the money they made.

Simon Evans, aged 43, had admitted 32 counts of counterfeiting DVDs and CDs plus five counts of transferring criminal funds.

Trudy Evans, 48, had admitted five counts of money laundering. She was also told to do 100 hours' unpaid work.

Sentencing the pair at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday, Recorder Malcolm Morse said: "Not only was this counterfeiting business your principal source of income but it was a commercially run enterprise taking the place of your legitimate work."

The court had heard that the operation run from the couple's home in Borough Crescent allowed them to live a lavish lifestyle.

Police and trading standards officers raided their home in November 2008 and discovered that the house had been transformed into a counterfeiting factory.

They found thousands of fake DVDs and music CDs, TV box sets and pornographic movies. They also found copying equipment.

The business had thousands of customers.

Four separate bank accounts were used, including one in the name of their daughter Abigail Nemedi, of Edison Way, Nottingham. She was arrested at Nottingham University, where she was studying at the time, and had faced three counts of money laundering but no evidence was offered and she was found not guilty.

Mr Mark Jackson, prosecuting on behalf of Sandwell Council, said the operation earned Simon and Trudy Evans just under £240,000.

Mr Robert Perry, for Simon Evans, said his client was a well thought of family man. Miss Alison Scott-Jones, for Trudy Evans, said her client felt shamed and humiliated.

A hearing on January 16 will decide costs.