Police in Brazil on Thursday, July 18 arrested a father and his son after a luxury sports car factory was found to be selling fake supercars on social media.
Various media outlets in the UK and America say that the illegal manufacturers have been posting photos of the counterfeit cars on Instagram before they got nabbed.
During the raid, they discovered six Lamborghinis and two Ferraris being assembled in the hidden factory.
The police are said to have acted on a tip-off from the genuine manufacturers who felt their business was being dragged behind by the illegal manufacturers.
According to the figures seen on the Metro, the cars were being offered to buyers at a cut-price deal of £36,000 to £48,000 which is equivalent to Sh4.7m -6.1m, a price that is way cheap compared to that of the genuine ones.
In the United Kingdom, a single Ferrari can cost up to around £260,000 (Sh33.6m) while the famous Lamborghini will require the buyer to cough out a cool £270,000 (Sh35m).
Footballers are known to be in love with these supercars with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mario Balotelli and Robert Lewandowski confirming affection for the Ferrari brand while Arsenal’s Pierre Emerick Aubameyang drives his silver Lamborghini.
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the sports stars in love with these Italian designs [Courtesy
Mario Balotelli in his red Ferrari [Courtesy]
Arsenal star Aubameyang drives his silver Lamborghini [courtesy]
Police report that although the cars looked like the original ones, the manufacturers had used parts from different car brands.
‘The motors were much less powerful. The finishing depended on what the client could pay,” said Angelo Fragelli, the Brazilian detective handling the case.
The two were charged with intellectual property offences due to the use of fake logos and industrial designs.
With sports stars madly in love with these Italian supercar brands, they could fall victim to this unacceptable trend that targets unsuspecting buyers.
SOURCE: standardmedia.co.ke
