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PARIS: A Paris court on Thursday convicted 10 people, including seven former staff of French luxury house Hermes, for making and selling fake handbags under its coveted Birkin brand. They were handed sentences ranging from six months suspended jail to three years with one year suspended. The Hermes workers would make the bags with crocodile skins from an Italian supplier, using zippers and other components smuggled out of Hermes workshops. The highest sentence went to a man considered to be a ringleader, who was also fined 200,000 euros ($233,000). He was tried in absentia however, and is still the target of an arrest warrant. (AFP)
