Russian police nab a FIFA-World-Cup-swag counterfeiter in a convoluted sting operation

Police in Kazan staged an elaborate sting operation to catch a woman selling knock-off FIFA World Cup swag. An undercover cop fooled her into making him three puppets modeled on “Zabivka,” the official mascot for this year’s soccer tournament, for 70,000 rubles ($1,130).

But the woman, Irina Zingarova, says she was misled to believe that her client owned the trademark rights to order copies of Zabivka dolls and t-shirts, and insisted repeatedly that he wanted them made to look exactly like the real thing. When Zingarova tried to film the police bust on her phone, she says the officers twisted her arms behind her back and injured her.

The police have charged her with causing 378,000 rubles ($6,110) in damages through copyright infringement, and she faces a fine as high as 300,000 rubles ($4,850) or up to two years in prison.