Yesterday, five internet companies were sued in the US, accused
of selling cigarettes to minors and failing to pay state excise
taxes; and in the UK, a distributor of cigarettes bought on-line
received a four-month prison sentence, also for evading excise
taxes.
In California, Attorney General Bill Lockyer yesterday filed
lawsuits against five tobacco retailers for selling cigarettes to
minors via the internet, failing to report tobacco sales to
California tax authorities and depriving the state of excise taxes.
The complaints seek a combined total of at least $1 million in
civil penalties.
The e-tailers were caught in a sting operation conducted by
state investigators, which revealed that the companies including
smokin4less and Dirt Cheap Cigarettes did not verify age on
delivery, did not require a signature on delivery, and often merely
tossed cigarettes on porches.
In the UK, a Banbury man who acted as a distributor of large
quantities of smuggled tobacco and cigarettes bought over the
internet for sale in the UK was jailed for four months at Oxford
Crown Court yesterday.
Timothy Regan, 42, was caught out when Customs officers at
Stansted Airport intercepted two pallets containing boxes of
cigarettes weighing a total of almost 270 kg, addressed to
individuals throughout the UK.
Regan pleaded guilty to four charges of evasion of excise duty
totalling £60,000 by failing to declare the import of 380,000
cigarettes.
