Huge illegal cigarette bust sees Halifax man jailed for £760k tobacco fraud

Solyman Bakteyarpoor, 40, of Raglan Court, Halifax, managed a shop called Zabka Stores where HM Revenue and Customs officers discovered illegal tobacco products hidden in a purpose-built concealment behind a fridge.

They also found notebooks detailing sales of nearly two million cigarettes.

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Officers visited the shop on King Cross Road in October 2017 and found 5,660 illicit cigarettes and 2.2 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco hidden behind a drinks fridge.

The cigarettes and tobacco were seized by officers as duty had not been paid on the goods.

HMRC officers returned to the premises three months later and found more illegal tobacco hidden inside the shop counter and in a bin in the back yard.

Bakteyarpoor was present at the time but fled the scene.

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Officers then searched his home and found another 27,680 counterfeit cigarettes and 14.8 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco.

Bakteyarpoor was arrested by HMRC officers when he returned to the shop later that day.

Officers found a knuckleduster, large sums of cash and notebooks, which recorded sales of 1,896,120 cigarettes and 505.9 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco dating back to May 2017, in a bag belonging to Bakteyarpoor.

Further seizures of cigarettes and tobacco were made at the shop by Trading Standards in July and August 2018.

In total he evaded paying £761,550, in duty and VAT.

Timothy Atkins, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “Bakteyarpoor profited by selling illegal tobacco goods, undermining legitimate traders and pocketing money which should be used to fund our vital public services. He thought he could get away with it, but now he is paying the price with a prison sentence.

“Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clampdown on the illicit tobacco market, which costs the UK around £1.8 billion a year. We encourage anyone with information about the illegal sale of tobacco to call our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”

Bakteyarpoor admitted excise and VAT fraud at Leeds Crown Court on November 11 2019. He was sentenced to 41 months in prison at the same court on January 23 2020.

Proceedings are underway to recover the unpaid duty and VAT.

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