FORMBY
Ian Pritchard
Report by Danielle Thompson A 51-YEAR-OLD man from Formby was one of a gang jailed after smuggling more than 17million cigarettes – and laundering the proceeds by buying and selling more than £1million of luxury cars. Ian Pritchard, 51, from Church Green was one of four from across Merseyside and Ireland to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, July 27 for their part in smuggling millions of non-UK duty paid cigarettes and 1.4 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco into the UK from Southeast Asia from January 2014. The duty and VAT evaded totalled £4,308,832. They were jailed for more than 25 years – with Pritchard sentenced to 10 years in prison. The gang used a rented flat in Liverpool as their base to plan the 20-month smuggling scam, which was busted when HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers arrested the men in late 2015. Officers seized cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco at the Port of Felixstowe in September 2014, when two shipping containers were stopped by Border Force officials. The goods were described as furniture on paperwork to try and evade detection. The other men jailed were Sean Dolan, 43, Paul Smith,
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Formby man, 51, laundered crime proceeds to buy and sell luxury cars
Seized cigarettes and cash taken from the gang
47, and Ian Hindle, 39, who along with Pritchard tried to hide the dirty cash from the illegal tobacco sales by buying high-value vehicles and selling them on. They set up and fronted a UK-based business, and hijacked the
identity of a legitimate business, in order to launder the proceeds and avoid paying VAT. The gang bought 102 vehicles totalling £1,138,029 – more than £500,000 of which was paid in cash. The money was then deposited into the businesses. One in particular, headed up by Pritchard, received a further £308,000 in cash over a seven-month period in 2015. During a search of Dolan’s home, 949,600 American Legend brand cigarettes were also found hidden in the garage. Meanwhile, a carrier bag containing £41,000 in used notes was found under a mat in Hindle’s car on his arrest. The cash was seized and forfeited. HMRC has now begun proceedings to reclaim the stolen tax. Pritchard was charged with one count of conspiracy to fraudulently evade excise duty, one count of concealing, disguising, converting or transferring criminal property, one count of cheating the public revenue and one count of entering into an arrangement relating to the acquisitions, retention, use or control of criminal property. Continued on page 3
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