3 charged for selling fake Nestlé products

Three persons are now facing charges before the court after they were caught selling fake Nestlé Philippines Incorporated products in barangay Punta Princesa last Friday.

Loterio Sanchez and Emerita Pepito of barangay Punta Princesa, and Hernani Abucay of Beltran subdivision, barangay Quiot-Pardo were slapped yesterday with charges for violating the Intellectual Property Rights Law.

Rene Richard Salazar who represented the NPI said the accused were apprehended by a team of policemen while selling fake Nestlé products to a poseur-buyer during a buy-bust operation.

Salazar and other personnel from NPI's Manila headquarters conducted an operation against a syndicate selling fake Nestlé products following reports that such illegal activity is rampant in Cebu.

According to Salazar, the syndicate would sell fake Nestlé products such as Nescafe and Coffee-mate at a cheaper price.

McNeil Mendoza, who has been trained by the NPI to identify fake products, confirmed that the products sold by the accused were indeed fake.

Mendoza observed that the wrappers and other features of the seized products appeared to be genuine. Recovered from the accused were 24 pieces of fake Coffee-mate and a counterfeit Nescafe 3-in-1 sachet.

Salazar, however, did not say whether the three accused were members of the syndicate.