Tobacco smuggler must pay up or face more jail
A CONVICTED tobacco smuggler who lived a high-rolling lifestyle despite appearing to have no legitimate source of income, has been ordered to repay £64,000 after an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Nicholas Todd, 61, who lived in Knutsford before moving to Alicante, Spain, has already served a prison sentence after being convicted last year. He has now been ordered to pay back the money he stole from taxpayers following an in-depth financial investigation.
Todd was caught smuggling tobacco on several occasions at Manchester Airport and on several occasions had hidden large sums of cash in his suitcase.
Following his conviction, which saw him jailed for eight months at Manchester Crown Court on January 23 2015, a HMRC investigation focused on his lifestyle which included expensive purchases including a property and a speed boat in Spain and cash, held in multiple foreign bank accounts totalling £340,000. HMRC were able to trace bank accounts in the UK, Spain and US.
He was ordered to repay £64,000 within three months or face a further 12 months in jail if he does not pay back the stolen tax by the deadline issued by the court.
A hearing was told that Todd had benefited by £341,220 from tax evasion and crime. HMRC gave evidence to the court of his lifestyle including: between January 2009 and July 2014, £266,764 cash deposited to his bank accounts; €2,296 and £960 in cash was found hidden hidden in his suitcase lining seized at Manchester Airport; €318, 952 was transferred to his Spanish bank account; $40,877 had been transferred to his US bank account; details of the purchase of his home in Alicante, Spain (currently valued at £285,000) and a €24,000 purchase of a Cobrey 260 SC cruiser motor boat in Spain.
Zoe Ellerbeck, assistant director, Criminal Investigation, HMRC, said: “For someone who travelled extensively and lived abroad, HMRC have shown that Todd had no legitimate source of income and the judge accepted that this lifestyle was funded largely by tax evasion and crime. We are determined to recover stolen taxes for such crimes.”
