Key facts
- Rehan Ahmed, 40, was jailed for three years and six months for running a counterfeit vinyl record operation.
- Ahmed made £2.7 million selling fake vinyl records by artists including The Beatles, Taylor Swift, and Ed Sheeran.
- Police uncovered the largest stash of fake vinyl ever found in the UK, with 2,791 records by 108 different artists.
- The fake records were produced using four 70-year-old vinyl presses over seven years.
- Ahmed's operation, Phoenix of Vinyl, was raided in February 2024 after a BPI test purchase revealed counterfeiting.
Rehan Ahmed, 40, has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison for operating a large-scale counterfeit vinyl record business that generated £2.7 million. The operation, run from his factory Phoenix of Vinyl in Acton, was uncovered in February 2024 after the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) conducted a test purchase and found evidence of illegal manufacturing.
City of London Police described the operation as "long-running, highly organised and entirely unlicensed." Officers discovered the largest haul of fake vinyl records ever found in the UK, comprising 2,791 records by 108 different artists. These included popular names such as The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Adele, Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, Drake, Beyonce, and Rihanna. The counterfeit records were produced using four vintage vinyl presses that had been in operation for seven years.
Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt noted that Ahmed exploited the recent resurgence in vinyl music's popularity. Peter Ratcliffe, BPI director of content protection, estimated that "tens of millions of pounds" were lost to artists, record labels, and retailers due to such counterfeiting activities. He highlighted that the growth in counterfeit records coincides with the physical music format's revival, allowing criminals to profit at the expense of creators and consumers.