Cigarette traffickers cheated New York out of $25M in taxes: suit
A city lawsuit targeting illegal cigarette traffickers charges the illegal enterprise sent $25 million in New York tax revenues up in smoke. The 39-page suit, filed Wednesday in Manhattan Federal Court, accuses a North Carolina wholesale cigarette distributor and three Tar Heel state convenience stores in the lucrative scam. “These defendants allegedly cheated the city and state out of millions of dollars in revenue that should be used for the people of New York,” said Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark. “They also undercut law-abiding businesses that serve our neighborhoods and cannot compete with stores selling untaxed, cheap cigarettes.” According to the lawsuit filed by city Corporation Counsel Zachary Carter, wholesaler H&H Distributors peddled cartons of cigarettes to the trio of North Carolina retailers — with a state sales tax of $4.50 a pop. “The H&H defendants made those sales … with full knowledge that the North Carolina retailers intended to and d...
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