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A man from Corby in Northamptonshire has been fined £2,100 ($3,300) after pleading guilty to selling illegal and counterfeit cigarettes online.
The Northamptonshire County Council reported on its website on Wednesday, July 1, that in April 2014 Northamptonshire Trading Standards had been carrying out a routine inspection at a shop in Kettering, a town in the county.
Rafael Witkiewicz reportedly entered the shop carrying a bin bag, which the officers found contained 280 foreign-labelled cigarettes.
As the trading standards authorities investigated the case further, they discovered that Witkiewicz was also linked to a website which sold illegal cigarettes.
At a hearing at Corby Magistrates’ Court on June 17, Witkiewicz pleaded guilty to four offences which related to the sale of illicit and counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco products.
He was fined £400 and ordered to pay £1,700 in court costs.
Councillor André González de Savage said: “We will not hesitate to take action against anyone suspected of supplying or selling illegal cigarettes.”
Counterfeit; cigarettes; Northamptonshire; online counterfeit; Northamptonshire Trading Standards; Rafael Witkiewicz
