Shisha tobacco fraudster sentenced

A Leeds man, who sold illicit shisha tobacco and disguised his stash as incense, yogurt and sports goods, has been sentenced.

Mehdi Jahani, 35, of Daleside Road, Pudsey, ran a shisha business called Rose Supply UK and was caught with 629kg of non-duty paid flavoured tobacco by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators.

Officers raided Jahani’s home and a storage unit on Kirkstall Road and uncovered the contraband hidden in containers labelled as yogurt, sports goods and incense. Packaging equipment was also found at the storage unit.

He admitted buying 700kg of illegally imported shisha tobacco worth £65,233 in duty and tax and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

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