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Counterfeit vinyl record maker sentenced to three years in the slammer after making $3.5 million — Police bust largest fake vinyl operation in UK history, raid uncovers four 70-year-old presses and 3,000 metal stampers Counterfeiters cash in on vinyl's resurgence. With physical media making a comeback, a man in the UK has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison for manufacturing and selling counterfeit vinyl records. Rehan Ahmed, from Southall in west London, was reportedly running a “highly organised, unlicensed operation” since 2017 that produced thousands of fake records featuring music from popular artists including The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, and Kendrick Lamar. The operation is estimated to have generated nearly £2.7 million ($3.5 million) in revenue. Ahmed’s counterfeit business, ‘Phoenix of Vinyl ’, came on the radar in 2024 after a representative from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) made a test purchase and found evidence of counterfeiting. The City of London Police raided the premises soon after and uncovered the largest stock of fake vinyl ever found in the UK, with 2,791 records by 108 different artists. In addition to the records, police officers also found four vinyl presses roughly 70 years old, along with 3,000 metal stampers, and thousands of sleeves and center labels. A separate report by The Guardian suggests that the BPI has been involved in 43 search warrants over the past two years targeting counterfeit vinyl and CDs. They have seized around 600,000 items with an estimated value of up to £8 million ($10.7 million). "With music on physical formats enjoying a resurgence, the market in counterfeit records has unfortunately also been growing as criminals cash in at the expense of creators and fans. 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," said Peter Ratcliffe, director of content protection at BPI. According to a report published by the BPI, vinyl sales in the UK have grown substantially, with 7.6 million records sold in 2025. That’s a 13.3% year-over-year increase, marking the format’s 18th consecutive year of growth. Vinyl revenue also rose 19.9% year-over-year to £174.7 million ($234 million), with the BPI reporting in March that it was the format’s highest annual revenue in more than three decades. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Kunal Khullar is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. He is a long time technology journalist and reviewer specializing in PC components and peripherals, and welcomes any and every question around building a PC. - PEnns ReplyRabohinf said:oi mate you got a loicense for that? Sure mate. Gimme a second to print one! - TechieTwo They seem to hand out weak prison sentences in Blighty. Maybe that's the place to go if you're a crim??? :(Reply - bill001g Reply It is all over the place that you can commit all kinds of crimes and not spend much time in jail if any at all. Don't know about UK but if you get 3 years in many US states that means you will be eligible for parole in 9 months. Most first time offenders who do not cause issues in the jail get out on their first parole. You hear about someone that is convicted of killing someone and sent to jail and then not many years later kills another person. Obviously they do not keep them in jail long enough to protect the public.TechieTwo said:They seem to hand out weak prison sentences in Blighty. Maybe that's the place to go if you're a crim??? :( The vast majority of theft type crimes spend little to no time in jail. They get some probation and have to take silly classes. This case they must be trying to make some political statement about being tough on crime. There are many cases of people embezzling millions from citys or companies and they get probation. - Fomdoo "Fake". That word is doing a lot of heavy lifting. I'm sure they played the songs. He could have just pivoted to legally making records.Reply - LordVile Reply Yeah but where’s the insane profit in that when you have to start paying royaltiesFomdoo said:"Fake". That word is doing a lot of heavy lifting. I'm sure they played the songs. He could have just pivoted to legally making records. - derekullo Did it sound good?Reply Do Taylor Swift, Coldplay, and Kendrick Lamar even make vinyl records? ... I know the Beatles did! - ejolson Laws are laws, but they should be changed. When the owner of a recording refuses to stamp vinyl records, they should lose the exclusive copyright that prevents others from stamping them same vinyl records.Reply - Air2004 The vinyl wasn't "Counterfeit" per se quite the contrary, in fact the man was using a 70 year old press (which was probably stamping higher quality records than what you'd probably get from the record companies whom own the licensing and copyrights to said albums).Reply Not only that, but to me, the word Counterfeit would seem to imply that the guy was knocking off albums that were are available in said format and passing them off as legally licensed while selling them at a discount. The buyer's knew what they were buying and the seller knew what he was selling. So, what you really have here is a case of copyright infringement I would think. But hey, its the UK.
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