Book Review: Fake goods, real money: The counterfeiting business and its financial management

• Author: Sesha Kethineni
• Published date: 01 September 2020
• Date: 01 September 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1057567719838023
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Antonopoulos, G. A., Hall, A., Large, J., Shen, A., Crang, M., & Andrews, M. (2018).

Fake goods, real money: The counterfeiting business and its financial management. Bristol, England: Policy Press

Bristol University Press. 88 pp. $51.81, ISBN 978-1-4473-4696-8.

Reviewed by: Sesha Kethineni, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX, USA

DOI: 10.1177/1057567719838023

The book was written by six authors, representing the academic as well as the practitioner. One

of the authors, Michael Andrews, is head of the National Trading Standards eCrime Team

(NTSeCT) in the United Kingdom (UK). This academic–practitioner partnership is reflected in the

richness of information presented in the book. Although the book is only 75 pages in length, it

provides a detailed description of the nature and dynamics of the counterfeiting business, factors that

make the business attractive to counterfeiters as well as customers, a profile of counterfeiters, and

the financial aspects of the counterfeit goods markets.

Chapter 1, “The Introduction,” starts with a quote from an interview with the Police Intellectual

Property Crime Unit Officer, and this sets the stage for the rest of the book: “[T]here are two

categories for the things that are counterfeited. There is everything, and there is anything” (p. 1).

The chapter presents data on the trade of counterfeit and pirated goods including the fact that the

gross sales represent about 10%of global trade. Furthermore, the authors clarify the catchall term

“counterfeiting” by suggesting that the activities should be placed under (1) counterfeiting (i.e.,

violation of trademark, design rights, or patents), (2) piracy (violation of copyrights), (3) imitation

products, and (4) other gray market goods (i.e., genuine goods sold by unauthorized source). The

chapter also presents information on the level of harm that counterfeit products cause to the global

economy and how counterfeiting encourages the underground economy.

Chapter 2, “Methodology and Field Work,” describes the mixed-method approach with an

interdisciplinary team of academicians from the social sciences, humanities, and law, as well as

practitioners from the NTSeCT. The primary goal was to compile qualitative information on coun-

terfeit trade in the UK and China. The study was conducted in two phases: Phase 1 included the

literature review and content analyses of media sources and Phase 2 involved in-depth interviews of

participants (criminal entrepreneurs; law enforcement, academicians, and researchers; experts work-

ing in private companies; and members of international organization) and ethnographic observation

of online and on-site in the UK and other countries. This mixed-method approach offered a broader

perspective for analyzing the intricacies involved in the trade of counterfeit goods and the role

played by various actors.

Chapter 3, “The Nature and Dynamics of the Counterfeiting Business,” provides fascinating,

firsthand information from various players in the counterfeiting business. According to the authors,

“[T]he counterfeit product supply chain, is, like most others, comprised of manufacturing, trans-

portation, storage and distribution/retailing” (p. 15). Most counterfeit goods come from China and

are funneled into the UK, the United States, and the rest of the world. Although China is the major

player, the authors have identified production hubs in Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the

Philippines, Ghana, Morocco, Vietnam, Panama, India, Taiwan, Japan, and Russia. Certain coun-

tries are known for counterfeiting certain products. Although officials have linked counterfeiting

activities to organized criminal groups such as the Russian Mafia, Chinese Triads, and Italian Mafia,

the authors claim the dynamics are different when it comes to the UK. “Individuals involved in the

counterfeiting business are often self-employed entrepreneurs” (p. 20), and they take part in the

business “via familial, kinships, ethnic, and neighborhood contacts, or via business relationship

formed online” (p. 21). The research also identified small-scale operations with individuals bringing

in items to large-scale schemes in which huge quantities of counterfeit goods from China, Eastern

Europe, and the Middle East are brought into the country via containers and trucks. Several themes

352 International Criminal Justice Review 30(3)