Crime for selling smartwatches: Dnipro sellers of alleged AirPods and Apple Watch copies fined and will be sent to the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The details of the case are reported by dev.ua.

How the scheme worked

Two natives of the city of Pokrov (Dnipropetrovsk region) decided to build a business on the love of Ukrainians for Apple technology. Interestingly, both men are registered sole proprietors, and both have already been convicted under the article on the illegal use of trademarks in February 2026. At that time, they were fined 153,000 UAH each.

This time it became known that at the end of 2022, the partners established contact with Chinese gadget manufacturers via the WeChat messenger. The goods were delivered to Ukraine via cargo companies.

The schemers stored their products in several rented warehouses in Dnipro and sold them through the website optitrade.dp.ua and Instagram page.

What was found in the warehouses

In November 2024, law enforcement officers raided the warehouses of entrepreneurs. The scale of the seizure was hundreds of units of equipment that allegedly visually copied Apple’s patented designs. Among the confiscated items:

• Headphones (over 500 pieces): similar to AirPods Max (as many as 392 pieces!), as well as similar to AirPods Pro 2nd generation, AirPods 3 and AirPods 4. Some of them were sold under the brands Celebrat, Borofone and PD, but allegedly copied Apple’s form factor.
• Smart watches (about 340 pieces): allegedly visual clones of the Apple Watch Standard and Apple Watch Ultra (sold under the Remax Watch and Borofone BD3 Ultra brands).
• Straps (almost 1,000 pieces): allegedly copies of the popular Alpine Loop and Ocean Band designs.

Official representatives of Apple Inc. estimated that the actions of Dnipro individual entrepreneurs caused them material damage in the amount of UAH 13,549,418.50, which is a particularly large amount.

Surprisingly, the equipment of the manufacturers mentioned in the case can also be found on other online stores. For example, on Rosetka.

Sentence: fine and donation to stormtroopers

Apple representatives sent the court their consent to the plea agreement and stated that they would not make any financial claims against the defendants.

In addition, the entrepreneurs actively cooperated with the investigation, «handed over» passwords to their devices, and told about supply schemes.

On April 28, 2026, the Industrial District Court of the city of Dnipro approved the plea agreements and sentenced both «businessmen» to the following punishment:

1. A fine of 51,000 UAH for each.
2. Payment of costs for conducting examinations — UAH 32,090 for each.

Also, in the plea agreement, the convicts decided to make a mandatory charitable contribution — UAH 50,000 from each to the account of a separate assault regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The court ordered the destruction of all seized equipment (hundreds of headphones, watches, and straps).