Student Makes Thousands Of Pounds With Duty-Free Tobacco Scam

A 25-year-old student managed to pocket thousands of pounds using a duty-free tobacco scam - though he has now obviously lost it all because he has been caught. The system works, it turns out.

According to the Manchester Evening News, Benjamin Bergman, from Salford, UK, bought cigarettes or rolling tobacco in bulk from duty-free shops at airports, using a boarding pass for flights to countries outside of the EU which are eligible for duty-free purchases. Then, rather than flying outside of the EU, Bergman would take a domestic flight and sell on his haul for a profit.

While craftiness is often something to be applauded, tax dodging is not, and in essence the profit Bergman made was money that would otherwise be invested in vital national services.

via GIPHY

When Bergman was caught in November 2016, he was found to be in possession of 9,600 cigarettes, which he bought from Gatwick Airport for £1,264 using a boarding pass for a flight to Geneva (which is outside of the EU).

However, in keeping with his fraudulent scheme, Bergman instead boarded a flight to Glasgow, but Border Force arrested him prior to take off. Authorities also found photos on his phone of bundles of cigarettes, tobacco and cash.

Further investigations revealed that Bergman had previously carried out the scam at Manchester Airport, Newcastle Airport, Heathrow Airport and Edinburgh Airport.

Incidentally, Manchester Airport made headlines recently after a baggage handler was filmed hurling people's luggage. Sure, that's annoying, but that definitely not as bad as this little stunt. Not by a long distance.

PA

Prosecutors said Bergman had avoided paying £9,101.63 in tax by using the scam.

Bergman studied in Israel and worked part time as a travel agent, and a spokesman for Her Majesty's Revenues and Customs said he used his nomadic lifestyle as a cover for the scam.

They said: "Bergman thought he was being clever, using his extensive travels as cover to make substantial purchases of tobacco and dodge paying duty. He was a prolific smuggler but those days are now over for Bergman.

"The illicit tobacco trade undermines legitimate retailers and costs the UK economy around £2.5 billion a year - money needed to fund vital public services."

PA

Bergman pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraudulent evasion of excise duty and was sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work.

Topics: Airport, crime, Smoking, Scam, Fraud

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey