The Manitoba Finance Taxation Special Investigations Unit (MFTSIU) and Manitoba RCMP have seized 1,176,600 cigarettes brought into Manitoba illegally.
Investigators say that on October 2, 2017, RCMP made a traffic stop on a vehicle just east of Richer on the Trans-Canada. After talking to the driver police searched the vehicle and found almost half a million cigarettes and just under 15oo litres of alcohol.
37-year-old Jason Michael Rondeau from Thunder Bay was arrested by police and is now facing charges for trafficking in contraband tobacco and alcohol as well as a number of taxation related offences for his alleged involvement.
On October 27, 2017, three men were arrested after they were seen by Manitoba Finance investigators loading a vehicle with clearly identifiable boxes of illegal cigarettes. The men were transferring the boxes from a Winnipeg business location.
Investigators seized the cigarettes that did not have the Manitoba duty-paid mark along with $3000 in cash. 687,800 contraband cigarettes were seized from the men. All three face a number of taxation violations including wilful evasion of paying Manitoba tobacco tax.
According to Manitoba Finance, the government would have lost $347, 097.00 in tax revenue had the contraband tobacco been sold.
The men face fines of $1000 to $10,000 and possible imprisonment of up to six months. They will also face a “triple tax penalty” of $432,588 for October 2, 2017 seizure and $608,703 for October 27, 2017 seizure
-News 4-
© 2017 News 4, a DigiPix Media Group company
.
