Gareth Raynor pleaded guilty to 14 counts of fraud and counterfeiting. He imported ink cartridges from China before packaging them to appear as genuine OEM brands and selling them through an eBay business called Genuine Ink.
He is believed to have sold around 3,000 cartridges as top brands including HP, Epson and Canon. Raynor also sold counterfeit versions of games for the Nintendo DS and Game Boy, and is believed to have made £36,654 between May 2007 and August 2008.
His home was raided by trading standards in 2008, uncovering large quantities of cartridges and emails asking suppliers to make them seem as genuine as possible.
The case comes as a surprise for many as Raynor had enjoyed a successful rugby career, having played with Leeds Rhinos and Leicester Tigers before becoming a regular at Hull FC. He won six caps for Great Britain and scored the match winning try in the Tri-Nations win over Australia in 2006.
Raynor is due for sentencing next month and was told “all options are open” by the judge.