Vinyl forger jailed after making £2.7 million from counterfeit records
A man has been jailed after he was caught selling fake records by over 100 artists, including Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift.
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Rehan Ahmed, 40, from Southall, West London, has been sentenced to three years and six months behind bars after police seized the ‘UK’s largest collection’ of fake vinyl.
Authorities have revealed that he made £2,743,000 from his sales between 2017 and 2024.
The records were being produced and distributed from a unit in Acton under the name ‘Phoenix of Vinyl’. Ahmed then supplied the counterfeit goods to record shops or sold directly to consumers through online platforms such as Discogs and eBay.
After warrants were issued in February 2024, officers managed to seize 2,791 vinyl records, along with stampers and lacquer used in their manufacture.
Ahmed was found guilty at Inner London Crown Court and sentenced on September 18 after investigators uncovered an underground vinyl-manufacturing plant.
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Record labels examined the counterfeit vinyls and confirmed that all titles infringed their copyright.
In total, 108 artists’ copyrights were used, including Adele, Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, Drake, Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Rihanna.
The operation was led by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at the City of London Police. During their search, investigators uncovered a fully operational underground vinyl‑manufacturing plant operating on an industrial scale.
Authorities found four vinyl presses, each approximately 70 years old, 3,000 metal stampers, and thousands of sleeves and centre labels, totalling 18 tonnes of evidence which indicated a long-running and highly organised manufacturing operation capable of producing counterfeit recordings.
The plant is believed to have been operating covertly since 2017.
Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at the City of London Police, said: “Rehan Ahmed exploited artists and the wider music industry, taking advantage of the resurgence in vinyl records for his own gain.
"We will continue to pursue criminals who target the creative industries and bring them to justice when they do.”
Fryatt also warned that the case should send a “clear message” to anyone selling counterfeit vinyls.
Peter Ratcliffe, BPI Director of Content Protection, said that music on physical format was seeing a significant resurgence, and consequently, criminals were cashing in at the expense of creators and fans.
Ratcliffe added: “This doesn’t just impact the legal music economy and everyone that works and invests in it - it also affects every one of us as citizens who fall victim to other forms of criminality that it funds.
“It is vital that we put a stop to it and working with our members, PIPCU, trading standards and other authorities we are absolutely focused on doing just that.”