Counterfeit cigarette smuggler ordered to pay £30,000 compensation

A counterfeit cigarette smuggler who was jailed for a scheme has been ordered to pay £30,000 in compensation to the tax authorities. Douglas Allison was convicted of being in charge of a smuggling gang that evaded excise on 13 million cigarettes. HM Revenue and Customs said the 47-year-old, from Dumfries and Galloway, had evaded an estimated £2.7m in excise duty on the counterfeit cigarettes. Allison, of Agnew Crescent, Stranraer, was previously found guilty of fraudulent or attempted avoidance of excise duty as well as money laundering charge.At Maidstone Crown Court last September, Allison was jailed for six and a half years for the offences. On Monday, HMRC said a confiscation order for the seizure of £30,000 had been ordered. If Allison fails to pay it, he could face a further year and two months in jail, the tax authority said. John Cooper, assistant director of HMRC’s criminal investigation unit, said: “Allison was a criminal who was motivated purely by greed to make a huge profit at the expense of honest taxpayers, pocketing money that could have been spent on public services for the benefit of the whole community.”The sale of smuggled cigarettes is unregulated and these products are often sold to children and young people. Local shopkeepers also suffer when sales are lost to the criminals that trade in illicit goods.

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