Rehan Ahmed has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison for running what authorities described as the UK’s largest vinyl-counterfeiting operation. His scheme exploited rising global demand for physical music, selling fraudulent records of major artists to record shops and online customers, and highlighting the financial harm counterfeit goods can cause creators, legitimate businesses and fans.

Police raided Ahmed’s warehouse in 2024 and found 15,000 fake LPs representing 108 artists, including Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, The Beatles and Ed Sheeran. Operating as Phoenix of Vinyl and Paragon Music, Ahmed began the scheme in 2017 despite receiving a cease-and-desist notice, and made nearly $3.6 million before pleading guilty to copyright offences and acquiring and using criminal property.