A convicted tax fraudster jailed after masterminding a plot to smuggle millions of illegal cigarettes into the UK has been ordered to repay more than half a million pounds. Svajunas Navagruckas, 52, was jailed for more than two years in February 2021 for leading an organised crime network that was caught with 8.5 million cigarettes stashed in window frames and laundry bags at a farm in Lincoln.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators seized the tobacco haul, worth £2.8million in evaded duty, but during the investigation, Mr Navagruckas returned to Lithuania. He was charged with conspiracy to evade excise duty and a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) was issued.
He was returned to the UK in July 2020, after being arrested by Lithuanian authorities. Now Mr Navagruckas, who pleaded guilty in Nottingham Crown Court to evading excise duty in August 2020, has been ordered to pay £551,320 within three months, or face another five years behind bars.
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Gillian Hilton, assistant director at HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service, said: “Svajunas Navagruckas was the head of an organised criminal network intent on flooding our streets with millions of illicit cigarettes. His crimes put him in prison and now he’ll repay what he stole.
“This case shows that our actions don’t stop once someone is convicted, we will look to reclaim the stolen money that should be funding vital public services in the UK. If you know of anyone who is committing tax fraud you can report them to HMRC online.”
Four other men, Andrej Jerofejev, 38, Vilmantas Simaitis, 48, Martynas Nazaras, 38, and Robertas Borovskis, 40, were previously jailed for their part in the plot. They had also returned to Lithuania during the investigation but were arrested and extradited back to the UK by HMRC.
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