Watch counterfeiting – The Punch and Judy show (Part 5)

We have made good progress in the trial of Julien V. and his alleged accomplices, foremost among them Florian R. The “actors” have been presented, along with the charges, the Presiding Judge detailed the chronology of events, we got into the heart of the matter, with, at times, a few twists. It is time to close these hearings before moving on to the pleadings of the lawyers representing the civil parties, followed by the public prosecution’s submissions and the defence’s final word. The Court’s verdict will follow next, which we are all patiently awaiting. So there is still “work” ahead of us…

“You told us that you had internal accomplices within Rolex. Were these the people who supplied you with the authentic serial numbers of Rolex watches to make your doublettes?” the Presiding Judge asks Julien V. “No, that’s a different business,” he replies. “So the customer bought their doublettes for €6,500 to pay less than for a genuine watch, in order to resell it at a higher price afterwards?” the Presiding Judge asks again.

“Listen, I did several things,” explains Julien V. “I made Chinese counterfeits for €400, I made doublettes for €1,500, I made assemblies for €6,500, and I also did 100% genuine by sourcing real parts that I assembled myself. There’s 100% fake and 100% genuine! I copied to perfection because I’m a perfectionist!”

The Presiding Judge adopts a grave tone to address a very serious matter, as if the previous ones were not already serious at this level. He refers to exhibit D-704-XX in the case file and displays it on the courtroom screen. It shows a photo of a young girl dressed in yellow, on an assembly line, holding a fake Rolex case in her hand. “You said in one of your Telegram messages that an 8 to 10-year-old girl was working for you. What do you have to say about that?” “Never in my life! Are you sure that’s not my daughter? Or it must be my associate’s daughter. (The child’s face has been blurred, Ed.) I don’t put children to work!” replies Julien V.

Patek Philippe’s lawyer challenges Julien V. “For you, if you have a watch assembled using genuine parts, is it a real one?” “Well yes, it’s not a counterfeit,” Julien V. replies. “Thanks to your trafficking you bought a house worth 15 million Bahts, a Lamborghini and a Porsche, is that right?” “Yes,” he says.

In 2022 you explained to your audience that you were retiring. You talked about thousands of low-end watches, doublettes, and assemblies of fakes with a few genuine parts that you sold for €6,500. But there are parts that you describe as genuine that you also assemble?” “Yes, so what? But you don’t understand a thing, you’re just a clown, sit back down!”

At this point the atmosphere becomes tense. The Presiding Judge steps in to remind Julien V. that he must not speak like that, and the lawyer defends himself by invoking his own free will to sit down whenever he wishes. The public prosecutor then steps in and addresses Florian R.

“Mr Florian R., did you only sell the 50 Rolex Daytona doublettes that you mentioned on your online shop, la Gxxxxx?” Florian R., who is calmer and more talkative, manages with his answers to calm the tense atmosphere that had prevailed until then. “No, there were others. The others came from WeChat, directly from China. Only the 50 mentioned came from Julien. And that only happened once. From February 2021 to February 2022 I sold only around 10 watches a month.

“Is RR Réplica Julien V.?” asks the public prosecutor. “No, it’s not him.” “Who is it then?” “You know very well. You arrested him in Paris when he came back from Dubai.”

The public prosecutor addresses Julien V. “Mr V., I am not going to ask you any questions since you wish to remain silent. But I am going to talk about you. On P. Replica you say that you are the best seller of counterfeits in Europe. You also lay out what a typical day looks like for you. You say you don’t have time for anything. So 12,000 watches doesn’t seem excessive over that period, when you read what your typical day looks like.”

Addressing the Court: “During questioning he said he earned €200 per watch. Over 12,000 watches that comes to €2.4 million in profit.”

Looking again at the defendant Julien V.: “In Thailand you stated that Florian R. was your customer. What I understand is that from 2020 onwards, la Gxxxx (Florian R.’s online shop, Ed.) was a reseller for Julien V. We have 38 resellers certified by P. Replica (Julien V. certified his best resellers, the way a brand certifies its official retailers, Ed.). So Florian R. was not your salesman, he bought and resold your watches.”

We are now reaching the end of the hearings concerning the two defendants Julien V. and Florian R. The Presiding Judge asks for a file to be handed to Julien V., given that he has no lawyer. Rolex’s lawyer says he is not in a position to do so. At which point Julien V. tells him sharply: “Don’t bother, I don’t want your file!”

Another defendant is called to the stand. He appears while at liberty, but is associated with the organised gang as a supplier to Florian R.’s la Gxxxxx. Because this online shop did not only offer counterfeit watches. It was also possible to get access to fake health passes, fake documents of all kinds such as identity cards or residence permits, but also unauthorised access to Police file lookups. We will only touch briefly on this aspect to show that trafficking of all kinds is often linked. Counterfeiting is not an isolated trade. This must always be kept in mind. To condone counterfeiting is to condone organised crime as a whole.

In the next article, we will get to know the personality of Florian R., the chronology of events concerning him, and another aspect of the counterfeit watch trafficking that has flooded France for at least 5 years.

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