Cigarette scam lands chip shop owner in jail

A LANCASHIRE chip shop owner was jailed yesterday after selling smuggled cigarettes and hiding more than £700,000 at his premises and under bushes in an attempt to avoid tax.

Mustapha Aitbouzit, 62, of Chorley, pleaded guilty to two money laundering offences and a charge of evasion of duty at Manchester Crown Court on July 5. He was sentenced to two years and four months.

In April 2008, officers from HM Revenue & Customs visited Aitbouzit’s ‘Browns’ chip shop in Chorley with the police and discovered he was selling smuggled Spanish cigarettes from the premises.

They found illegal cigarettes and tobacco under the counter and also in a locked room above the shop with around £200,000 in cash hidden under a bed. Bundles of cash were also found in the shop’s safe. During a search of his home on Stansted Road in Chorley £500,000 in cash was found hidden in the garage and under bushes in the garden. Smuggled cigarettes were also seized from the house.

Mike O’Grady, assistant director of HMRC’s criminal investigation unit, said: “When officers searched Aitbouzit’s properties it was like a game of hide and seek. We kept finding packets of money in such strange places it was obvious that the cash wasn’t legitimate.

“The sentence sends a clear message to those tempted to launder money and conceal illegal income that they are taking a serious risk.”