Gang member jailed after tobacco fraud smashed

Wednesday, 4 October 2017 07:00

A gang member, who rented properties to use as delivery addresses for more than 14 tonnes of smuggled tobacco worth £3.1m in evaded VAT and duty, has been jailed.

Emmanuel Cieply, 57, of no fixed abode, rented three properties in Bradford, Leeds and Liverpool where 1,041 packages containing illegal tobacco products were delivered between October 2014 and February 2016.

Cieply was arrested at a property on Longroyd Avenue, Leeds, after a damaged parcel was found to contain 76kG of hand-rolling tobacco in December 2015. Duty had not been paid on the Amber Leaf branded products, which were seized by UK Border Force.

HMRC officers searched the property and found £70,810 cash in a duvet cover and packaging identical to that seized by UK Border Force.

Cieply admitted excise fraud at Leeds Crown Court and was sentenced to 38 months in prison.

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