A Wolverhampton shopkeeper who sold smuggled cigarettes and alcohol from his retail premises, Euroshop, has been sentenced to 26 months in prison for tax and duty fraud.
Arkani Muradi, 36, of Highfield Road, Great Barr, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of excise duty during a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 27 March 2017. He was sentenced at the same court on 7 June 2017.
Muradi claimed to be a sales assistant, not the owner of the premises, when HMRC officers visited his shop. HMRC said he also used numerous fake names in an attempt to hide his crimes.
More than £77,000 worth of non-duty paid tobacco and alcohol was found under the counter and in a nearby storage unit he had rented under an alias.
The prosecution followed a joint prosecution by HMRC and City of Wolverhampton Council Trading Standards. HMRC investigators discovered more than 246,000 illegal cigarettes at the storage unit hidden in boxes packaged as crisps and sausages. Muradi again tried to cover his tracks by ending his rental agreement for the unit, using another alias, but was rumbled when officers recognised it as one he’d previously used in a telephone conversation with them.
“Muradi made elaborate attempts to evade capture and continued to trade in illicit tobacco and alcohol, stealing from taxpayers and honest retailers. But, despite his efforts, officers were able to prove he was responsible for the fraud,” said Richard Young, assistant director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC.
“Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clamp down on the illicit tobacco and alcohol markets, which costs the UK around £3bn a year.”
The City of Wolverhampton Council’s Trading Standards was also alerted to Muradi’s illegal activities by the local community and launched Operation Riposte in July 2015. Illicit cigarettes including counterfeited brands, were found hidden in elaborate places, including behind false walls and under floorboards.
Another raid in November 2015 uncovered a further 3,000 illicit cigarettes, hidden under the fridge and in a hole in the wall behind the cigarette gantry. In total, Trading Standards seized 133,800 cigarettes; 35.1kg of hand-rolling tobacco and 186 bottles of non-duty paid alcohol.
Ross Cook, service director for city environment, City of Wolverhampton Council, said: “City of Wolverhampton Council, along with its partners at HMRC, takes a robust and determined approach to the supply of illicit tobacco and alcohol. These illegal activities have a significant detrimental effect on the local economy, undercut honest traders and supply harmful products at pocket money prices.”
In total, Muradi was caught with 380,541 illegal cigarettes, 36.3kg of hand-rolling tobacco and 195 bottles of non-duty paid alcohol, with an estimated tax loss of £99,302.
A confiscation hearing to recover the proceeds of his crime will follow.
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