Rotherham shopkeeper jailed after selling illicit cigarettes

A SHOPKEEPER caught with a haul of illicit tobacco for the fourth time has been jailed following an investigation by customs officers.

More than 120,000 cigarettes, worth £27,925.97 in unpaid duty, were discovered inside suitcases at the home of Karjion Ibrahim Ahmad (40), in August 2013.

A later search of Ahmad’s shop, the East Mini Market on Wellgate, revealed a further 25 packets.

Stuart Taylor, assistant director of criminal investigation at the HM Revenue and Customs, said: “Ahmad persistently flouted the law by peddling his contraband to the people of Rotherham.

“Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clampdown on the illicit tobacco market, which costs the UK around £2.1 billion a year.

“This is theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders.”

When interviewed, Ahmad said he had been looking after the suitcases for a Polish man and did not know they contained tobacco.

He claimed the cigarettes found at his shop were “payments” he had received in exchange for food items.

Inquiries revealed that non-duty paid tobacco had been seized from Ahmad's shop on three previous occasions — in 2009, 2011 and 2012.

Ahmad pleaded guilty to the fraudulent evasion of excise duty in July.

He was sentenced to four months in prison by Recorder Margia Mostafa at Sheffield Crown Court.