SA tobacco smugglers ordered to pay $500k fine in one week
Two men who made a fortune selling illegal tobacco have avoided jail – but have a very tight deadline to pay a mammoth fine.
Police & Courts
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Two greed-driven men who made $500,000 selling smuggled tobacco for just $8 a pouch have been ordered to repay every cent they made – and have been given just seven days to do so.
On Tuesday, the men – who cannot be named – were sentenced in the District Court over their highly-lucrative, five-year illegal importation scam.
In sentencing, Judge Simon Stretton said the offending was not isolated and was committed with intent to profit.
“You were the organisers of the importation, not just helpers or assistants, it was not isolated offending and it was committed with a view to profit,” he said.
“There was a considerable quantity of material with the potential for considerable duty to be paid.
“As submitted by the prosecution, the offences are serious in that they undermine the integrity and efficacy of the taxation system and the important role of import duty and like taxes.”
The duo pleaded guilty to smuggling hundreds of kilograms of cigarettes and chewing tobacco into Australia, avoiding $400,000 in import duties, between 2015 and 2020.
In all, they imported 49 shipping containers’ worth of contraband into the country, hidden amongst household goods, which they sold for between $8 and $10 a pouch.
Australian Border Force caught them after their 50th delivery, containing 320kg of tobacco, and found $500,000 cash at one of their homes.
Last month, Judge Stretton warned the pair he intended to fine them $500,000 – one of the biggest financial penalties in SA legal history.
On Tuesday, he said they had to pay that fine – divided equally between them – within seven days.
He said he had taken their personal circumstances into consideration and made special considerations for the impact imprisonment would have on their privately-owned businesses and family.
“As mentioned, the businesses currently employ 26 staff members – six full-time, 12 part-time and the remainder casuals,” he said.
“The court accepts, due to your roles in the business, the nature of the business and your overall financial position, your incarceration for any substantial time would cause your business to fail.
“That is on the balance of probabilities likely to result in the need to sell significant assets to repay debt and to allow your families, and the parents you both support, to survive.”
He sentenced the men to 15 months’ imprisonment, but suspended those terms on condition of 15-month good behaviour bonds.
In a statement, Border Force ABF Chief Superintendent Bart England said a multi-agency task force had seized more than 1.7 billion illegal cigarette sticks and 867 tonnes of loose leaf tobacco in 2022/23.
“There is common misconception that engaging in the illicit tobacco trade is a victimless crime, but it is far from it. Aside from the well-known health impacts of smoking, buying illicit tobacco is a crime,” Chief Superintendent England said.
“It funds organised criminal syndicates and supports them to undertake other serious criminal activities that harm Australian society.”
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