Pius Sedani, the owner of ethnic food retailer Quality Foods, has been jailed for two years and four months for selling duty-avoided tobacco.
Sedani admitted evading £580,000 in duty and VAT on 3,250kg of handrolling, chewing and shisha tobacco seized by HMRC officers on three visits to his Quality Foods store in Southall.
Sedani had been given two formal warnings for selling illegal tobacco and alcohol after visits and seizures by HMRC officers in January and December 2011. He was visited for a third time in November 2012 when they found 447kg of non-duty paid chewing tobacco and 2,520 cigarettes. He has also been ordered to pay £278,196 by 5 August 2013 or face a further three years in prison.
Quality Foods limited company LB Enterprises reported a 79.9% rise in pre-tax profits to £1.38m on sales up 63.2% to £19.3m in the year to 31 July 2011, the most recent accounts available at Companies House.
“Sedani was given two warnings, but persisted in selling non-duty paid goods,” said HMRC assistant director John Pointing.
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