A keen golfer who enjoyed playing golf in exotic locations by dodging tax on smuggled tobacco has been jailed.
Dhanji Varsani, 56, North West London, shipped in nearly 7000kg of hand-rolling tobacco worth £1.2 million in unpaid excise duty, an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) revealed.
The tobacco arrived in a trailer on a container ship into Purfleet in Essex, hidden in a shipment of pocket tissues, was traced to a storage company, IFL Sea & Air in Southall, West London and to Varsani.
Varsani claimed to be unemployed, but lived a lifestyle of driving high-powered vehicles, playing at top golf courses and enjoying holidays in places like Dubai.
Varsani pleaded guilty to evading excise duty at Harrow Crown Court on 6 November 2018 and was sentenced on 11 January, 2019 to three years and 10 months in jail.