Australia: Tobacco Smuggler Fined Almost $8 Million

Source from:  AAP (Australian Associated Press) (au)  02/05/2013

A Sydney man has been fined nearly $8 million for smuggling prohibited tobacco and cigarettes into Australia.

Customs and Border Protection says Dory Karam tried to import a container with a declared cargo of shoes on August 2, 2007.

Customs officers found 150,000 cigarettes and 12,926 kilograms of unprocessed tobacco leaf inside.

In the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, Karam was convicted of attempted smuggling and other offences and fined $7,954,914, Customs said in a statement on Monday.

National manager of investigations Kingsley Woodford-Smith warned of the seriousness of cigarette smuggling and importing illicit tobacco.

"This was an attempt to deprive the government of legitimate revenue," Mr Woodford-Smith said.

"The large penalty incurred should be a warning for others thinking of committing similar crimes."

Another man, Ronnie Karam, was proven to have imported a prohibited import and to have made a false statement to a Customs officer.
But Ronnie Karam was not convicted for either offence and entered into a three-year good behaviour bond. Enditem