Express & Star

West Midlands fake cigarette gang told to pay back £170k

Four businessmen sentenced for running a £60,000 tobacco counterfeiting plant and money laundering, have been ordered to pay back more than £170,000 of their criminal profits.

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Nicholas Edmunds, 54, of Pomeroy Road, Pheasey, Walsall, James Anderson, 58, of Forshaw Heath Lane, Earlswood, Solihull and Phillip O'Brien, 54, of Aston Cantlow Road, Wilmcote, Stratford upon Avon, were running a tobacco factory from adjoining industrial units they rented in Wythall.

During a raid in January 2013, HM Revenue and Customs investigators seized more than 1.3 tons of raw leaf, shredded and hand rolling tobaccos, as well as equipment to shred, spray and package the counterfeit tobacco.

A fourth man, Bradley Bailey, 29, of Crabmill Close, Knowle, Solihull, laundered the cash for the gang.

Peter McDermott, assistant director of fraud investigation services for HMRC, said: "Crime really doesn't pay.

"We are determined to recover stolen tax from criminals who think they can steal from the public purse and get away with it.

"This confiscation order shows that we don't stop once someone has been jailed, but our actions continue until we have deprived criminals of their illegal profits.

"This recovered cash will be directed to where it should have been – toward funding vital public services.

"Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clampdown on the illicit tobacco market, which costs the UK around £2.4 billion a year. We encourage anyone with information about the illegal sale of tobacco or alcohol to contact the Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887."

At a confiscation hearing at Birmingham Crown Court Anderson was ordered to pay back £150,000 or face 18 months in prison.

O'Brien has to pay back £20,178.70 or face eight months in prison.

Edmunds has to pay back £2,367.50 or face two months behind bars.

All three men have been given three months to pay or face a prison sentence.

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