Interior Ministry: Suspects Arrested for Selling Fake Perfumes as Original

The General Directorate of Criminal Investigations succeeded in arresting two suspects of Bangladeshi nationality for their involvement in refilling counterfeit perfumes and selling them as authentic, as part of the Criminal Security Sector’s efforts to combat commercial fraud and protect intellectual property rights.

The Ministry of Interior stated on Sunday evening that investigations revealed the suspects had refilled original perfume bottles bearing global, regional, and local brand names with mixtures of oils resembling the original scents, then resold and promoted them as authentic perfumes and samples intended for testing.

It was clarified that, following the arrangement of a purchase operation, the first suspect was apprehended in the Manqaf area while handing over three perfume bottles in exchange for 17 Kuwaiti dinars, whereas the market value of the genuine counterparts amounts to 150 dinars. Records showed that a report of job abandonment had been filed against him. During interrogation, he admitted that he worked for a monthly salary and led investigators to an apartment used for preparing and storing the perfumes. The second suspect, the warehouse owner, was also lured and arrested, and he confessed to the facts stated by the first suspect. The operation resulted in the seizure of approximately 4,000 perfume bottles bearing various brand names, along with four bottles of alcohol, quantities of aromatic oils, a tool for sealing perfume bottles, and other equipment used in their preparation.