£503,500 bill for Liverpool cigarette smuggler

Jan 19 2008 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

A LIVERPOOL fraudster who attempted to evade prosecution has been ordered to pay over £503,500 for illegally smuggling cigarettes.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) officers originally arrested Paul Wright, of Huntley Rd, Liverpool, at a Manchester warehouse full of counterfeit cigarettes in May 2006.

During the operation HMRC officers recovered a total of 3,440,400 cigarettes equating to a duty evasion of £503,502.

Last night a HMRC spokesman said officers were astonished at the sheer volume of cigarettes discovered – saying the warehouse looked like a “commercial” distribution centre.

The officers also recovered £322,860 in cash bundles from both the warehouse in Talbot Road and Wright’s home address in Liverpool during a later search.

The 46-year-old was arrested at the warehouse while using a hired van to transport some of the cigarettes.

In the subsequent prosecution brought by the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) Wright pleaded guilty to two charges involving the Excise fraud and money laundering in March 2007 and was found guilty of a further two charges after a trial that concluded in July 2007.

However, he then went missing – forcing a bench warrant to be issued for his immediate arrest by the court.

In his absence His Honour Judge Hammond sentenced him to three years in jail related to cigarette smuggling and money laundering last year.

This week at Manchester Crown Court HHJ Hammond agreed that Wright must also pay the confiscation order for £503,500 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

This is in addition to the cash seized when he was arrested.

If he does not pay up within six months a further three years will be added to his sentence. Mike O’Grady, HMRC assistant chief investigation officer, said: “It is a criminal offence to buy or sell cigarettes, other tobacco products or alcohol which do not bear fiscal markings and on which the proper excise duty has not been paid.

“HMRC are committed to stamping out the problem of cigarette and tobacco smuggling across the North West in the interests of honest traders and public health.

“When Wright is located the court has decided he has to serve his jail sentence and pay the confiscation order for a further half a million regardless of his absence.”

IF MEMBERS of the public know of Wright’s whereabouts or of any premises buying or selling duty free cigarettes or hand rolling tobacco or suspect smuggled alcohol is being traded where you live or work contact the hotline on 0800 595000.

carolineinnes