Glasgow company director caught importing tobacco hidden in furniture

A Glasgow company director has been sanctioned after importing raw tobacco hidden in vacuum-sealed tins disguised as furniture.

Border Force officers intercepted a shipment at Grangemouth in January 2022, stopping a container addressed to Unique Enterprise Ltd, a company run by Fazle Masum.

Unique Enterprise Ltd did not hold the required HMRC approval to handle raw tobacco, which has been a legal requirement in the UK since 2017.

Masum applied to the Border Force to have the seized tobacco returned to him.

Unique Enterprise Ltd was issued with a £152,980 penalty following an HMRC investigation.

The firm later went into liquidation owing almost £175,000 – nearly all of it the unpaid penalty.

Masum, 42, of Glasgow, was disqualified as a company director for eight years at Glasgow Sheriff Court on June 8.

Masum’s disqualification prevents him from managing, forming or promoting a company without the permission of the court.

His ban came into effect on June 29.

Mike Smith, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Fazle Masum chose to import raw tobacco without the required approval and went to deliberate lengths to hide what he was doing. That is not conduct we expect from company directors.

“Director disqualification is one of the most important tools we have to protect the public. By securing this order, we are making sure Masum cannot put other companies, creditors or consumers at risk in the same way.”

Christina Brown, head of Border Force North Region, said: “Masum’s interception highlights Border Force’s vigilance against unlicensed tobacco and cigarette smuggling.

“Through intelligence-led multi-agency operations, we are seizing hundreds of millions of illegal cigarettes, disrupting organised crime and protecting legitimate businesses.”