Newport retailer fined £30,000 for selling illegal tobacco

A shop which sold fake cigarettes and tobacco has been fined £30,000 and its owner given a suspended prison sentence.

According to local reports, a total of 9,500 suspected illicit cigarettes and 300g of hand rolling tobacco was discovered at Timisoara store on Corporation Road in Newport, owned by Haval Amin.

Amin was prosecuted by Newport City Council after its trading standards team visited the Timisoara store in August 2021. During the visit Amin, 37, was served with a closure notice for Timisoara and the suspected illicit cigarettes and illicit hand rolling tobacco were seized.

Following examination, both the majority of the cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco were confirmed as counterfeit and the three-month closure notice was granted on August 18, 2021. Amin then failed to respond to correspondence sent to him by the council or attend an interview, the local authority said. He also failed to attend the first court hearing in November 2022.

Later, Amin attended Newport Magistrates Court on January 26 this year where he pleaded guilty to six offences of his shop possessing and supplying fake cigarettes and tobacco bearing Amber Leaf, Richard King and Lambert & Butler Original logos, and of fraudulent business activity.

Timisoara was fined £30,000 – £5,000 for each offence – on January 26. The company was also ordered to pay £3022 in costs and a £181 victim surcharge. Separately, on May 3 Amin was handed an eight-week prison sentence suspended for 24 months. He must also carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and pay a victim surcharge of £128.

Councilor James Clarke, cabinet member for strategic planning, housing and regulation at Newport City Council, said, “I’m pleased that the actions of our officers and partners have led to this successful prosecution. The sale of illicit tobacco undermines key tobacco control measures and fund criminal activity in our communities.

“We will continue to pursue those who participate in this crime and urge anyone with information about sales of illicit tobacco in the city to report it.”