Buyers of fakes are fined

Purchasers of counterfeit designer goods are now being given on-the-spot fines of € 10,000 (GBP 6,624) on the Italian riviera. Three tourists were handed the fines as part of a crack-down on illegal street trading in the seaside resort of Ventimigila.

According to the Telegraph, the tourists included a 60-year-old Dane, Kirsten Lorsen, who bought a pair of fake Dior sunglasses, a 27-year-old Frenchwoman who bought a phony Louis Vuitton handbag and another Frenchwoman who had bought large quantities of T-shirts and sunglasses, perhaps with the goal of reselling them at home. The vendor has not been caught by the police.

The new decree against illegal street trading, known as "abusivismo", maintains that both the buyer and seller of forged goods be fined. The buyer is fined on the grounds that he or she is an accomplice to a crime. The fine is to be paid within 60 days. If not, interest is simply added for as long as it takes the perpetrator to pay up. Should he or she not do so, chosing instead to flee the country, he or she may then be faced with the risk of becoming a fugitive. A fake Gucci really does not appear to be worth this hassle.