Two admit involvement in near-£4million duty evasion on imported cigarettes in Spalding
Two men have admitted being involved in a near-£4million duty evasion on imported cigarettes in Spalding.
They were arrested almost two years ago as they were unloading a shipment of more than 10 million cigarettes into a storage container, Boston Magistrates’ Court was told on Wednesday (June 4).
Tomas Balzarevicius (45), of Main Road, Deeping St Nicholas, and Mihaita Cristian Iasilcovschi (44), of South View Road, Walton, Peterborough, have been on bail since the incident on August 1, 2023.
Stephanie Dodd, prosecuting on behalf of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, told the hearing that HM Revenue and Customs were investigating the case when a large shipping container containing 10,133,400 was found in the process of being unloaded in Spalding.
She said phones seized and downloaded provided evidence in Lithuanian messages of “what this operation was all about”.
“Mr Balzarevicius was a key role but it was clear he was not alone. Some messages suggested there were others higher up the chain,” added Miss Dodd.
“Mr Iasilcovschi used his limited company details in order to give the bill of lading some legitimacy.
“The circumstances are that just under £4million of tax was evaded. On that total alone, it’s not suitable for summary trial.”
The prosecutor said the starting point on the sentencing guidelines was five years’ custody, for Mr Balzarevicius at least.
Balzarevicius and Iasilcovschi indicated guilty pleas to fraudulent evasion of duty on 10,133,400 cigarettes. Balzarevicius further indicated a guilty plea to the same charge relating to 189,800 cigarettes on the same date, also in Spalding.
Both defendants will next appear at Lincoln Crown Court for sentencing on a date to be arranged.
A third man – Gediminas Paulauskas (49), of Holbeach Road, Spalding – who appeared as a co-accused on the charge relating to the larger quantity of cigarettes pleaded not guilty.
He is due to appear at Lincoln Crown Court on July 2 for a pre-trial preparation hearing.
All three men were released on bail with the same conditions which have been in place since their arrests in 2023, namely to surrender their passports, not to apply for any travel documentation, not to travel overseas and to report to Spalding Police Station every week at a specified time.
