£1.4 million confiscated from Manchester cigarette smuggler.
 

A New Moston man who illegally imported cigarettes and tobacco into the North West has been ordered to pay back over £1.4 million pounds.

Back in January 2005, following an investigation by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), Lawrence Martin Cook, of Newfield Road, New Moston, Manchester, pleaded guilty to four counts of being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of excise duty and was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment. In November 2005, he also pleaded guilty to a further offence of a similar nature. The offences all related to the importation of cigarettes and tobacco from Spain via Manchester Airport and the sale of these goods at markets in the Manchester area.  The North West Regional Asset Recovery Team (NW RART) then began an investigation into Cook’s financial situation.

This confiscation investigation uncovered evidence of over sixty additional importations by Cook or by couriers employed by him to import the tobacco products on his behalf. Sales lists found at the defendant’s home address, indicated his weekly sales of tobacco products to be in the region of £8000. Despite Cook claiming Income Support, he drove a BMW convertible and the investigation uncovered evidence of large cash payments by him and a lifestyle clearly inconsistent with his declared earnings to the former Inland Revenue.

At a confiscation hearing on 28 April 2006 at Manchester Crown Court, Cook claimed to have no assets, but provided no proper explanation about where the proceeds of his lucrative smuggling enterprise had gone. The defendant had sold his property in New Moston and claimed to have disposed of the proceeds through repaying a debt to his supplier and entertaining his friends. HHJ Henshell found Cook’s evidence to be “ unbelievable and wholly unsatisfactory”, stating that this was a clearly a case of assets being hidden.  The judge ordered the defendant to pay a confiscation order of £1,421,824 within 6 months, or face a default sentence of 7 years in prison.

Detective Chief Inspector Mike Kellett, Head of the NW RART said:  “People who engage in criminality in this manner should not only expect to be deprived of their liberty, but should also look forward to losing what they have gained financially.  Lawrence Cook was making a comfortable living from his criminal activities and we are pleased that the court in this case has recognised this and has taken away his profits. Other people engaged in criminality for profit should expect the same thing to happen to them”.