A West London man was jailed in what the newspaper called the biggest-ever U.K. fake-vinyl case after police found 15,000 counterfeit records, including albums by Taylor Swift, Coldplay, and Kendrick Lamar.
Here's what to know
Southall resident Rehan Ahmed, 40, pleaded guilty to two offenses: breaching artists' copyright and acquiring and using criminal property, according to The Guardian.
Before sentencing Ahmed to prison, Judge Darren Reed said the case showed the "sophisticated and planned nature of the enterprise" and the "wider harm to the music industry."
Using the names Phoenix of Vinyl and Paragon Music, Ahmed sold counterfeit albums through Discogs, eBay, and record shops.
A February 20, 2024, raid on his factory uncovered a three-floor operation that ran only at night.
Police found large quantities of fake records at the site, along with old machinery, loose paperwork, and chemicals kept in refrigerators beside cans of lager.
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The British Phonographic Industry said it helped execute 43 search warrants tied to counterfeit vinyl and CDs, seizing about 600,000 items with an estimated street value of up to £8 million.
More background
U.K. vinyl sales rose 13.3% in 2025 to 7.6 million units, marking 18 consecutive years of growth. With demand rising and limited editions often carrying high price tags, some albums now regularly sell for about £40.
Peter Ratcliffe, director of content protection at the British Phonographic Industry, said some of the seized records were "absolute shockers."
"They were warped: there were bumps in them. The sound was dreadful. The printing quality was awful," he said.
Lead investigator DC Daryl Fryatt said Phoenix of Vinyl received a legal cease-and-desist order in 2017 but kept operating for another seven years.
What's being done?
Working with specialists from the British Phonographic Industry, the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit, which is part of the City of London Police, said it identified fake stock, traced copyright violations, and contacted 108 labels or artists' legal representatives.
On April 22, officers from the unit raided a warehouse in Luton and found counterfeit albums valued at about £260,000.
An eBay spokesperson told The Guardian, "Counterfeits are strictly prohibited on eBay. Where listings violate eBay policies, we act swiftly to remove them and may take action against the seller's account."
Lead investigator DC Daryl Fryatt said the motive was simple: "Money, getting rich quick … There was no kind of siphoning it off and investing it. It was all just spent."
Ratcliffe added, "We're going to find more, and I think we're going to have bigger finds as well. Just the industrial scale now and the increased popularity of vinyl … It's all going to lead to very big seizures."
Where can I learn more?
For more on vinyl collecting, physical music products, and crackdowns on illegal goods in the U.K. and beyond, these stories cover thrift-store record finds, discarded K-pop albums, and enforcement actions targeting banned products in London, Essex, and Queensland.
• At a local Goodwill, one shopper found a bounty of classic vinyls.
• K-pop albums were found in the streets, fueling calls for industry change over waste.
• In one London borough, officers said shop owners selling illegal vapes used WhatsApp tactics.
• In Essex, authorities seized more than $60,000 in illegal products from local businesses.
• In Queensland, Australia, a record bust seized over $15 million in banned products.
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