BBC News

Fraudster jailed for selling fake 'Scottish-grown tea'

Thomas Robinson tricked luxury stores into buying "Scottish-grown tea" that was actually grown abroad.

He definitely caused a stir with that fake Scottish brew. I’m glad he got found out, but I have to admit it was a clever trick. At first, I didn’t think it was much different to what some bottled water companies do when they repackage tap water and call it spring water.

after making so much money, why did he not actually legitimise his business? surely that would have made more sense than continuing to be fake. i dont condone it, but you could forgive the hustle to a point if it meant he setup a real company that benefitted people.

You would be surprised by how many people try to do things like this; it's not uncommon for dining restaurants or hotels to be contacted by sellers of all sorts, from meat to wine. I am surprised he managed to fool enough to make such a huge profit, and it will impact real small businesses wanting to gain trust, so there is that, but at least he got caught.

There's a pretty well-known hustle where people buy cheap wine and try to sell that off as fine wine.

Some in the catering trade go as far as to sell fine wine when it is actually cheap wine.

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Does this make him a tea leaf thief? 😂

Isn’t most English tea brought in from places like India or China? That’s what I thought anyway. I don’t think what he did was right. It wasn’t a good choice.

He could’ve made a proper business instead, like other people said. That would’ve been better.

@Ash

Kenya is the UK's largest supplier of tea, however India & Sri Lanka are up their too as big suppliers.

He was just being greedy, with no real plan, only trying to make some fast money. It’s not surprising he got caught behaving like that.

Some people fall for things far too easily. It really proves how important it is to use proper, trusted ways to check if a product is real or not.

PG tips = or in this case Pretty Greedy Tips🤣

kilbrindle tea - brewed with rainwater, aged in fog, and strong enough to straighten your kilt. 😂