Man sentenced after shop search uncovers illegal cigarettes

HM Revenue & Customs

A Rochdale man has been sentenced after he was caught with illegal cigarettes and tobacco at a shop in Oldham.

Ibrahim Khdr, 36, was found with 6,880 non-duty paid cigarettes and 6.15kg of hand-rolling tobacco at the Polski Sklep shop on Yorkshire Street, Oldham during an inspection by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Oldham Trading Standards. The total duty evaded was £2,982.

HMRC investigators caught Khdr behind the shop counter as he was serving cigarettes to a customer on 22 February 2017.

A search of the premises uncovered cigarettes and tobacco in a Slazenger sports bag under the counter with more found hidden in the back yard.

Khdr initially claimed he didn’t work in the shop and was behind the counter to charge his mobile phone. He later said he was visiting a friend and was unaware there were any non-duty paid cigarettes in the shop.

Khdr was convicted of evading excise duty and sentenced to a community order of 50 hours unpaid work and £85 victim surcharge.

The shop’s owner Osman Baiz, 33, of Charles Holden Street, Bolton, was prosecuted by Oldham Trading Standards under s.92 Trade Marks Act 1994 for having counterfeit cigarettes and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 regarding labelling offences. He pleaded guilty on 10 January 2018 and was sentenced to a one-year community order of 80 hours unpaid work, a victim surcharge of £85 and costs of £500.

A HMRC spokesperson said: “Khdr spouted a string of lies that were implausible and desperate, despite being caught red-handed.

“The illegal tobacco trade deprives our public services of money that could be spent on schools and hospitals. We ask anyone with information about suspected tax fraud to contact our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”