Racehorse owner Joseph Paul Honeyman made almost £400,000 from evading duty on importation of tobacco, cigarettes and spirits
A racehorse owner who stored almost a million cigarettes in a lucrative customs fraud made nearly £400,000 from crime.
Joseph Paul Honeyman is serving a 14-month prison sentence for evading duty on the importation of tobacco, cigarettes and spirits.
Teesside’s top judge has branded him a “professional criminal businessman” who cheated the public purse.
Honeyman, 55, was back in court yesterday for a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act, designed to take away cash and assets gained through crime.
Lawyers at Teesside Crown Court agreed he made £399,385 from criminal activity. He was ordered to pay more than half of this amount - £216,500, the amount he had available.
The judge, Recorder James Adkin, ordered Honeyman to hand over the money in six months or serve two and a half years in prison.
Honeyman first ended up in court after the seizure of 984,500 cigarettes, 710kg of hand-rolling tobacco and 499 litres of vodka.
He was sentenced last October by Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough.
The judge told him: “You carried out a business of importing tobacco, cigarettes and spirits, and doing so by evading duty.
“That is not a victimless crime. We are all, every member of the community, victims of your crime. You have cheated the public revenue and done so persistently and professionally.”
Honeyman was found in his home on Croft Avenue, Middlesbrough, with 118 cases of vodka in the garage, and cigarettes and tobacco in the dining room.
Customs officers found 980,900 counterfeit cigarettes and 708.25kg of tobacco in a house owned by Honeyman on the same street.
A total of £309,699 duty had not been paid on the haul in April 2011, the court was told.
Honeyman told investigators he made money from the sale of his successful fruit and vegetable business and a racehorse he partly owned.
He admitted three charges of dealing in goods with fraudulent intent.
In 2005 he was given a suspended prison sentence in Germany for 11 charges of evading about £35,000 tax on tobacco imported from Luxembourg.
Peter Makepeace, defending, said Honeyman warehoused goods on others’ behalf, sold some on instructions and received a small percentage for this “functional role”.
He said Honeyman had a good work history, was a valuable member of the community and employed others in his businesses, but got into financial difficulties.
The judge told Honeyman: “I’m prepared to accept, just, that you were not at the top of this particular tree and there were others who were guiding and controlling you.”
Diane Donnelly, assistant director of criminal investigation at HM Revenue and Customs, said afterwards: “Honeyman was out to line his own pockets and went to jail for his crimes, but our action does not stop there.
“We will continue to look for any profit he has had from his illegal smuggling activity and take action to recover it.
“Anyone with information about tobacco smuggling should call the Customs’ Hotline on 0800 595000.”
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