Insider On Changing Faces For 70000 Washing Machines

Famous brand washing machines with an official selling price of around 2000 yuan can be purchased by consumers on e-commerce platforms and offline stores for 700 to 800 yuan. These well-known brand washing machines, which are far below the market price, are likely defective products that the company intended to scrap and destroy. So, how did they transform and undergo secondary assembly and resale?
The police of the task force seized a counterfeit washing machine from a well-known brand. Photo by People's Daily reporter Hao Ping
Recently, the police in Juye, Shandong Province, cracked a major case of producing and selling counterfeit well-known brand washing machines. They destroyed 4 production and 5 sales centers, and seized more than 7000 counterfeit well-known brand washing machines on site, with a involved value of more than 150 million yuan.
How did refurbished washing machines enter the market?
On September 8, 2023, the Juye County Public Security Bureau received a clue to investigate the issue of a counterfeit well-known brand washing machine. The police established a special task force to quickly carry out investigations and visits for investigation.
The police have discovered that the home appliance store operated by Zhang, a resident of Juye, has significant suspicion of selling counterfeit well-known brand washing machines online and offline. The police officers of the special task force immediately rushed to a warehouse in Taomiao Town, Juye County, and seized more than 2000 counterfeit washing machines of a well-known brand.
Digging online and tamping down weak points. Over a period of over a month, police officers traveled over 3000 kilometers, crossed multiple locations, and ultimately discovered that the logistics vehicle had been dispatched from a warehouse in another city.
The investigating police officer of the task force introduced the case. Photo by People's Daily reporter Hao Ping
"In order not to startle the snake, we conducted secret surveillance and finally confirmed that the lessee of the warehouse was a certain resource regeneration technology Co., Ltd., and the signatory was Xing," said Liu Gaolei, deputy captain of the Food, Drug and Environmental Investigation Brigade of Juye County Public Security Bureau.
The police of the special case team carried out the work of seizing the net, seized more than 5000 counterfeit washing machines and one counterfeit equipment of a famous brand in the warehouse involved in the case, and captured the suspect Xing.
At this point, the veil of an illegal chain of interests has been lifted.
Xing, the sales manager of the Resource Recycling Technology Co., Ltd., secretly colluded with suspect He, Gong, Xu and Zhao, who worked together all the year round, in order to make huge profits, to replace a damaged washing machine of a well-known brand that should have been disassembled and destroyed, assemble and sell it, becoming the source of counterfeiting and selling.
As mentioned earlier, Zhang has been operating a home appliance store for many years. In order to obtain huge profits, he purchased this batch of goods through a friend he met in his early years, and sold them on e-commerce platforms and offline stores by impersonating a well-known brand of washing machines through legitimate channels.
How is a damaged washing machine resold after changing its face?
Xue Yongliang, the instructor of the Food, Drug, and Environmental Investigation Brigade of Juye County Public Security Bureau, introduced that Xing rented a warehouse under the name of a certain resource recycling technology Co., Ltd. to provide a venue for the case. He, Xu, and Zhao advanced funds to join.
The police of the task force seized the involved premises and counterfeit well-known brand washing machines. Photo provided by Juye Police
Xing purchased a batch of damaged and scrapped washing machines at a price of 210 yuan per unit. To cover up, he first dismantled and destroyed a small portion of the washing machines according to the proper procedures, and the remaining ones, along with He and three others, were sold to Gong at a price of 350 yuan per unit.
For the convenience of disassembly and assembly, the criminal gang conducted secondary splicing and replacement assembly in a rented warehouse, and then impersonated a well-known brand of washing machines from legitimate channels to sell in multiple cities at a price far below the market price.
At present, many well-known brand electrical companies have paid a lot of costs to maintain product quality and corporate image, and to prevent defective products from entering the end market, entrusting professional companies to dismantle, scrap, and dispose of them. So, how did the criminal gang secretly reassemble and resell such a large number of scrapped washing machines without the knowledge of a well-known brand electrical company?
After further analysis and judgment, the police officers of the special task force believe that the well-known brand electrical company is highly likely to have "insiders".
Xue Yongliang told reporters, "We conducted extensive investigations and comparisons on the financial flow of the personnel involved and the internal personnel of the company, and found that there were two bribe takers within the company. One was a warehouse keeper, and the other was a bidding personnel from the marketing department, both of whom charged corresponding" benefit fees ".".
The reporter learned during the interview that warehouse staff should have scrapped washing machines with defects through strict methods such as impact and punching, to prevent problematic washing machines from entering the market. But as an actual operator, he actually reduced the harm to the washing machine, with the aim of providing practical convenience for Xing and others in subsequent secondary assembly and resale.
After preliminary investigation, the criminal gang produced and sold more than 70000 counterfeit washing machines of a well-known brand, with a involved value of over 150 million yuan. At present, this case is under further investigation.
Is the refurbished washing machine purchased by consumers considered counterfeit?
So, are these refurbished washing machines fake?
The reporter learned that the washing machines refurbished and resold by the criminal gang were neither assembled with brand original parts nor have official warranties. Seemingly an original brand washing machine, it is actually a counterfeit product. Counterfeiting inferior products can lead to numerous problems.
Li Mingxuan, Deputy County Mayor of Juye County People's Government, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Public Security Bureau, introduced that the reason why the well-known enterprise has a scrapping and dismantling system is to prevent defective products from entering the market. However, some criminals, in order to seek illegal benefits, modify these washing machines that should have been destroyed to enter the market, which poses certain safety risks for consumers; For enterprises, it damages their intellectual property and brand image. "This kind of loss cannot be measured in money, so we must resolutely crack down on it," said Li Mingxuan.
In recent years, the national public security organs have continued to deepen a series of special actions in accordance with the unified deployment of the Ministry of Public Security, and strictly crack down on various types of infringement and counterfeiting crimes in accordance with the law. In 2023, more than 40000 cases of intellectual property infringement and the production and sale of counterfeit goods were filed and investigated.
The relevant person in charge of the Food and Drug Crime Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security stated that in the next step, the public security organs will deepen the "Kunlun 2024" special action, closely monitor key commodity areas such as food and drugs, fire equipment, gas equipment, electrical products, building materials, wholesale markets, e-commerce platforms, etc. that have received strong public feedback and widespread social attention, further increase the crackdown on various types of infringement and counterfeiting crimes, resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the general public and various market entities, and fully serve to ensure high-quality development.