A gang, whose ringleader was Yuanjian Zhou from Glasgow, has been jailed for more than 16 years after a £1.5m tobacco scam.
The gang smuggled and distributed 5.8 tonnes of illegal tobacco over a three-year period from March 2018.
Zhou, 48, smuggled raw tobacco into the UK, aided by Bryan Kim, 42, and Faruque Hussein, 54. They processed it into hand rolling tobacco and sold it in counterfeit packaging.
Ruifang Zhang, 45, who is the wife of Zhou, laundered the criminal cash and used it to pay the deposit on a house and monthly mortgage payments. She also used fake details to apply for the mortgage.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers searched residential properties and storage units across Luton, Leicester and Nottingham and uncovered the tobacco haul, worth nearly £1.5m in evaded duty.
Zhou, Kim and Hussein were charged with cheating the public revenue. Zhang was charged with money laundering and mortgage fraud worth £270,000. They all denied their roles in the scam but were convicted in December 2024 after a four-week trial at Luton Crown Court.
Zhou was sentenced to seven years and seven months in prison; both Kim and Hussein were sentenced to three years and four months; and Zhang was sentenced to two years and five months.
Peter Vivian, Operational Lead, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said:
“The trade in illicit cigarettes and tobacco damages funding for essential public services and undermines legitimate traders including small, independent shops that serve local communities.
“We continue to work closely with our partners to relentlessly pursue the determined minority who refuse to play by the rules.
“We urge anyone with information about the smuggling, distribution or sale of illicit tobacco to report it online.”
