Yuanjian Zhou, the ringleader, faces over seven years in jail for a £1.5m tobacco smuggling operation.
Yuanjian Zhou, who is 48, led the gang. Bryan Kim, 42, and Faruque Hussein, 54, were also involved. They smuggled tobacco over three years, starting in 2018. The scam was worth £1.5 million.
The gang brought raw tobacco into the UK. They processed it into rolling tobacco and then sold it in fake packaging.
Ruifang Zhang, 45, is Zhou’s wife. She laundered the money from their crimes and paid for a house deposit with it. Monthly mortgage payments also came from the illegal money. She also used fake details on her mortgage application.
HMRC searched homes and storage units in Luton, Leicester, and Nottingham. They found the illegal tobacco. The evaded duty was nearly £1.5 million.
Zhou, Kim, and Hussein were all charged. They cheated the public revenue, said the police. Zhang faced charges too for money laundering and mortgage fraud. The fraud was worth £270,000.
They all said they were innocent. However, a trial happened in December 2024. It lasted four weeks at Luton Crown Court, and the jury found them guilty.
Peter Vivian works for HMRC. He said illegal tobacco hurts public services and honest businesses. He stated that they work to stop these criminals and wants people to report illegal tobacco sales.