A 37-year-old vendor, charged with selling a large quantity of counterfeit goods in Beijing's Silk Street, told the court he was just a tool of the ex-general manager.

Yang Changjun was charged by Chaoyang district court Tuesday for making profits from more than 8,400 counterfeit bags over the past two years. All the products were copied from top-tier brands such as LV, Gucci and Chanel.

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Yang admitted the allegation but claimed it was Wang Zili, the ex-general manager of Silk Street, who asked him to conduct the business.

He said Wang encouraged him to monopolize the counterfeit market in Silk Street with verbal and financial support, the Mirror Evening News reported.

Many top management officials from Silk Street appeared at the court Tuesday.

"It is indeed a shame," Zhang Yongping, president of Silk Street, told local media.

"I could not even imagine how a general manager would dare to collude with vendors selling fake goods," he said.

The verdict was not announced Tuesday but Yang's defense lawyer said he hoped the court would make a mitigation of punishment as a result of Yang's good attitude and the relatively small amount of money he had made.

Yang started selling genuine leather goods in Silk Street in 2004 but consistently lost money. In 2006 he started buying in fake Chanel and Gucci bags from Guangdong province to resell in the market.

Yang's business grew quickly. He rented a 40 sq m underground warehouse in the market, specifically dealing in counterfeit goods.

His price purchase range was from 10 to 100 yuan. He said he realized he could resell them for a profit of at least 15 percent.

Ex-general manager Wang Zili was quickly given the title of "counterfeit fighter" after he took charge in 2006.

Wang quit his job in early July last year. He later sent a letter to central government officials claiming the Beijing market did not pay even 1 yuan in taxes from 2005 to 2007. Chairman Zhang Yongping was given sole blame.

Insiders said this whistle-blowing was revenge by Wang after being expelled for weak management.

In December last year, Beijing police detained Wang for "being tolerant to counterfeit goods sellers."

METRO