Perfumers on Crusade to Crush Fake Brands : Counterfeiting: Phoney scents are a booming trade in Singapore. The island nation’s free-port status provides easy entry for goods, and penalties are light.

SINGAPORE —  With the flick of a switch, a pile driver crushed 4,300 bottles of fake perfume while devotees of genuine scents cheered.

The “destruction ceremony” at a posh shopping area was specially arranged by Yves Saint Laurent after a 16-month investigation uncovered a massive international counterfeit perfume operation.

“This has been a major breakthrough,” said Yann Kerlau, the French firm’s general counsel. “However, this is not the end.”

Fake perfumes are a booming business in Singapore where all the equipment needed to turn out the product can be fitted into an apartment and penalties are light.

The island nation’s free-port status provides easy entry for goods, fake or legitimate.

“When one illicit operation closes down, another crops up,” said Mei Ying, regional marketing manager for Elizabeth Arden and Parfumes Lagerfeld. “Even more discouraging is the producers are becoming so proficient the smells are not far off.”

Fed up with imitations taking sales away from such coveted fragrances as Opium, Paris and Rive Gauche, Kerlau said the bottles smashed by the pile driver had a street value of $250,000 and were destined for the Middle East, Africa and other parts of Asia.

Investigations are continuing into other counterfeiting syndicates suspected of operating out of Singapore, he said.

“We do not take the issue of counterfeiting lightly,” Kerlau said. “We are on a constant alert to stamp out such illegal activities, which are damaging our market reputation and trademark.”

Perfumes and cosmetics, which account for 88% of the group’s sales, are the biggest money earners for Yves Saint Laurent. Kerlau said counterfeiters are responsible for a loss of 15% of the annual worldwide turnover, which totals $3.7 billion.

“Ironically, if your brand is not a target for counterfeiters, then it’s not a success,” said Linda Seet, product manager for Hagemeyer Marketing, agent for Christian Dior.

While fans of Christian Dior products know they can be obtained only at top stores at commanding prices, Seet said the consumer who has longed to purchase a fragrance like Poison but is not actually familiar with it is the most vulnerable and the most likely to end up with a fake.

“The biggest giveaway is the price,” Seet said. “If you are browsing around a flea market instead of a prestigious establishment and are offered a bargain that is 40% to 60% off the normal price, it’s a fake.”

The job of tracking down the counterfeiters has become the domain of private investigators, super sleuths with police backgrounds hired by the legitimate businesses.

“Our worldwide strategy now includes a full-time, in-house private investigator to ensure that counterfeiting of our products is kept in check,” Kerlau said.

Investigations, however, usually are lengthy affairs, requiring patience and the stamina to follow one lead after another.

Lionel Chee, a retired assistant police commissioner who heads Lionel Security Systems and Services, acknowledged that perfume cases can be frustrating.

Weighed against the potential for huge profits, Chee blamed the proliferation of counterfeiters on “chicken feed” penalties. Under Singapore’s trademarks law, importation, sales or possession for sale of items with counterfeit trademarks is penalized by a $1,000 maximum fine, a jail term of up to a year or both.