Sussex man sentenced for Buddha cigarette scam
- Published
More than 100,000 illicit cigarettes were in the statues
A furniture importer from Sussex who admitted allowing Buddha statues to be used to smuggle more than 100,000 illicit cigarettes has been sentenced.
Border Force officers at Southampton Port found five statues filled with cigarettes in a shipping container.
James Reber, 51, from Second Avenue in Hove, pleaded guilty to evading £31,000 in excise duty and VAT.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, at Lewes Crown Court.
The Buddha statues were found in a shipping container from Indonesia
The multi-coloured fibreglass statues were found when officers searched a shipping container which had arrived from Indonesia in June 2013.
An HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigation into the container's paperwork led to Reber who initially told officers he was importing furniture but knew nothing about the Buddhas or cigarettes.
John Cooper of HMRC said: "This was a crafty attempt to smuggle illicit cigarettes into the UK, solely to avoid paying excise duty and VAT."