Credit: Charles Reed
A Staten Island, New York man who ran a tobacco wholesaler in Bristol Borough was sentenced to federal prison.
Ramzi Al Najar, 43, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay over $7.8 million in restitution by U.S. District Judge Petrese B. Tucker for smuggling smokeless tobacco products across state lines to avoid paying the associated taxes, authorities said Tuesday.
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Capital Trade Inc., a tobacco wholesaler that state documents listed as being in the 900 block of Canal Street in Bristol Borough, was involved in a scheme that transported close to $40 million worth of tobacco from Pennsylvania to New York without paying millions of dollars in New York excise taxes, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s office.
Al Najar and unnamed associates created fake documents and invoices with Pennsylvania and New York regulators. The false documents underreported the amount of tobacco sold, authorities said.
In addition, Al Najar did not register and report as an interstate seller of smokeless tobacco as required by the Prevent All Cigarette Smuggling Act (PACT Act), authorities said.
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“The defendant thought he found a loophole to fast money, by cheating both Pennsylvania and New York out of substantial taxes owed for the sale of tobacco products,” Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said in a statement. “But now he is the one paying the price. Everyone has to follow the law, and our Office is here with our federal, state, and local level partners to enforce that standard.”
Al Najar was convicted last year.
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The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’ Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigation, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, with assistance from: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the New York State Department of Tax and Finance, and the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.
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