Jail for UAE-based trader of fake DuPont refrigerants

A United Arab Emirates-based trader faces two years in jail after being convicted of selling counterfeit DuPont refrigerants.

DuPont has pursued the trader since late in 2007 when market research identified a possible counterfeit operation. Now, after almost five years and numerous setbacks, a court has convicted the UAE-based trader and sentenced him to two years in jail.

Greg Rubin, global business manager, DuPont Refrigerants, said: "We are determined in our pursuit of counterfeiters due to the safety risks inherent in the production and distribution of these illegal and potentially harmful products."

Police raided the warehouse at the centre of the counterfeit operation in 2009 after DuPont bought fake refrigerants from the trader, according to a company press release. The raiders unearthed fake refrigerant cylinders, printing templates and packaging but failed to arrest the trader.

By 2010 the trader was operating again and a second raid was conducted. This time police seized filling machines for putting generic gas in cylinders as well as thousands of Freon branded refrigerant cylinders. An arrest followed.

The case comes less than one month after DuPont took action against manufacturers it accused of selling counterfeit versions of its fire-resistant clothing in the UAE.

The company has been trying to protect its refrigerant brands via the use of Izon security labels, which feature a series of dots which appear and disappear on each side of the label as it is tilted. Counterfeit products sometimes carry simple holograms, according to DuPont.