Cigarette smuggler jailed over £10m plot
AWEST Lancashire man was among gang members jailed over a £10m cigarette smuggling plot.
Ray Hughes lived a lavish lifestyle, travelling around the world, living in a luxury house in Aughton and driving a Porsche Cayenne.
Hughes, of Elmsfield Park, carried out the pretence of running Singaporebased company Ray Sport Ventures, a company that imported teddy bears, razor blades and computer parts from China.
But in reality he was evading millions of pounds in tax as he ran a criminal smuggling network that brought 27 million illegal cigarettes into the UK.
His gang held business meetings in a roadside cafe and operated on public Wi-Fi – in the false belief it would prevent their activities from being tracked.
Hughes headed the operation, which attempted to sneak three large deliveries past customs by describing them as mattresses and car parts.
The 57-year-old, who flew around the world to source the cigarettes, was one of six men involved in the plot.
The group held regular “business meetings” in a roadside cafe in Leigh, Greater Manchester, and other locations that offered free Wi-Fi.
This was so that they could use the public connections to access the internet and create fake businesses, aliases and contact shipping companies to give the impression of trading in other goods.
Despite their use of free Wi-Fi and disposable mobile phones, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs officers traced many of the fake emails and false identities to the men’s home IP addresses and personal mobiles.
Officers even found a text message between the fraudsters claiming “nothing can be traced” because they used public Wi-Fi to communicate and track their illegal imports.
HMRC investigators found that Hughes had not declared any income for several years, despite his wealthy lifestyle.
Instead he was importing the cigarettes, attempting to smuggle them through customs without paying tax.
His network, spread around the North, included Liverpool men Michael McNally and John Wignal.
The pair were in charge of distributing the cigarettes once they had passed through customs and were overheard discussing deliveries while under surveillance.
Tony Capon, assistant director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “Hughes lived in an expensive house, drove a Porsche Cayenne and travelled the world, but he never declared any legitimate income or business trading to HMRC.
“He operated a criminal network to smuggle, transport, store and sell illegal cigarettes and tobacco, purely to evade tax.
“This was a serious attempt on an industrial scale to steal millions of pounds from the public purse and undermine local businesses.
“In our work to create a level playing field for all businesses and taxpayers, we urge anyone with information about the trade in smuggled or counterfeit tobacco to contact our 24-hour Hotline on 0800 595 000.
“If you’re ever offered cheap or dodgy-looking cigarettes or tobacco, call us – don’t let the crooks get away with this type of fraud.”