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.
Bradford Libraries Launch Summer Reading Challenge
Seven Arrested in West Yorkshire Immigration Crime Crackdown
MyLahore Celebrates 24 Years of Serving Communities
Stage set for return of Leeds Summer Series
Three jailed over Rochdale machete attack linked to crime feud
Police appeal to trace wanted Bradford man
Wakefield man convicted of manslaughter after pub incident
Culture at the Heart of Stockport’s Transformation
South Asian Art Exhibition Opens at Cartwright Hall
Men’s Mental Fitness Programme Launches in Blackburn
Council Calls for Tougher Fly-Tipping Sentences
Alim OnAir
Bhangra Nights
The Golden Era
Remix Saturdays