Over 2,000 years ago the Roman lawyer, philosopher and statesman, Cicero, came up with the idea that there is 'Honour amongst thieves’.

In February 2020, Mr Wang (not his real name) set up a factory slightly to the west of Guangzhou to produce counterfeit smartphone-related products. Three months later, our vigilant China team uncovered Mr Wang’s illegal activities and on behalf of our client filed a complaint with the local Public Security Bureau (China’s Police). During the subsequent raid a total of over 73,000 counterfeit products were seized, including 16 moulds.

Rather than expressing contrition, Mr Wang was very angry. Delving into the cause of his anger, we discovered that he believed it was his old boss who had tipped off the police, because he was always causing trouble for Mr Wang since he set himself up as a competitor. Mr Wang declared it wasn’t fair because his old boss (who by coincidence was also called Mr Wang - not his real name) was an even bigger counterfeiter.

Sympathetically offering to help him vent his fury, the PSB officers asked Mr Wang the address of his boss’ factory. They duly despatched 6 of their colleagues to visit that factory and ended up seizing another 94,000 products there.

It was fortunate for our client and the PSB that the two Wangs threw each other under the bus. So much for honour amongst thieves.