A witness for the OEM claims it “paid him to secure samples for investigation” against Longhurst Holdings.
Mmegi Online shared the latest updates in the case, which was reported on yesterday by The Recycler. Longhurst Holdings are accused of selling counterfeit HP printer cartridges, branded with HP’s logo, and has seen HP and Botswana’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) investigate the company since 2013.
The civil case, in which Longhurst company director Gabriel Kanjabanga leads its defence, features allegations centring on cartridges seized after HP engaged a company, Chasewaterford, “that deals with providing a risk consultancy and investigations service in counterfeit goods from South Africa”. However, in court a witness has said HP “paid him to secure samples for investigation”, with the witness – Ishamel Sechele – admitting he “was no expert in counterfeit goods”.
Sechele was accused by Kanjabana of being a “paid witness” who had used “false names when purchasing the goods” from Longhurst, and argued “how is the court to trust him when he even lied about his name when purchasing the goods? He is here to give evidence against my client because he and HP have hatched a conspiracy to lie before the court”. Kanjabanga also claimed Sechele “was not an expert in counterfeit goods as he was trained in a different field”.
This he added, meant Sechele “he has no idea how to distinguish the two except what he has been told by HP”, while Sechele – under cross-examination, confirmed that HP “engaged and paid him to buy two toners from Longhurst and give them to the investigating team”, admitting that “he did not have any idea whether or not the toners he purchased were counterfeits, as he did not open them”.
Additionally, Sechele stated that “whether the toners were genuine or not, that one I am not sure, because I gave them to the investigating team in sealed boxes”, having purchased the cartridges and handed them over to “the investigating team in the presence of police”, where he said “my job ended”. The case will continue with HP’s lawyer, Reinard Michau, discussing evidence and interrogating a second witness.