A SCOTTISH businessman has been banned from directing companies after attempting to smuggle tobacco hidden in furniture into the UK.
Fazle Masum, who is based in Glasgow, was fined £153,000 for the attempted crimes, forcing his company Unique Enterprise Ltd into liquidation owing almost £175,000.
Border Force officers intercepted a shipment addressed to Masum’s company – which was registered in Dunfermline – at Grangemouth in January 2022 and found raw tobacco hidden inside vacuum-sealed tins disguised as furniture.
Masum then applied to Border Force to have the seized tobacco returned to him.
However, 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, the Insolvency Service said.
The company was then issued with a £152,980 penalty following an HMRC investigation, but went into liquidation before paying.
Masum, 42, of Glen Loy Place, Glasgow, was disqualified as a company director for eight years at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Monday 8 June. The ban came into effect on Monday 29 June.
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.”
Masum’s disqualification prevents him from managing, forming or promoting a company without the permission of the court.
