The leader of a gang of duty free shoppers, who never even boarded their international flights, was jailed for 15 months on 22 October. He bought cheap air tickets so that the gang members could gain access to lounges at UK airports where they bought thousands of duty free cigarettes and then either left the airport or boarded domestic flights.
The cigarettes were later sold on Tyneside evading thousands in excise duty and VAT.
Christopher Campbell (39) from Chapel Park in Newcastle upon Tyne bought the air tickets for flights from UK regional airports including Newcastle, Bristol, Liverpool and East Midlands to random destinations in order to gain access to their duty free lounges and shops.
The offences came to light when HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) staff at Newcastle International Airport were told that a passenger bound for Geneva had bought 16,000 cigarettes. However the same person was booked on a flight to Heathrow and was arrested. Campbell had booked both tickets.
Campbell was convicted on 22 October 2009 of excise evasion offences and money laundering offences thought to total more than £100,000 over a two year period.
John Houston, North East Head of Criminal Investigation for HMRC, said:
“The motive behind this type of crime is quite simply greed. Campbell used the money to help fund an opulent lifestyle that saw him driving fast cars, buying designer goods and spending time at a members-only gym.
“To abuse the UK tax system for personal financial gain is a serious crime but this case highlights that despite the efforts made by criminals to hide their illegitimate profit we have the powers that enable us to get to the bottom of smuggling crime. I would urge anyone with information about smuggling activity to call the Customs Hotline on 0800 59 5000.”
Whilst sentencing Campbell yesterday (Thursday 22 October) HHJ Beatrice Bolton at Newcastle Crown Court commented that Campbell was not simply involved in organised crime he was quite simply ‘an organiser’ of crime and made clear that due to the serious nature of the offences there was no alternative but to impose a lengthy custodial sentence.
Campbell was sentenced to 15 months in prison for money laundering and received 9 individual prison sentences of 9 months for each count of cigarette smuggling. In total he received a sentence of 96 months. The sentences will run concurrently.
Confiscation proceedings were also started in order to try and recover the financial proceeds of his criminal activity.
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