| answer text |
<p>Prosecutions for illegal tobacco can be brought for a range of offences from dealing
in illicit product, on which UK duty has not been paid, to breaches of the Department
of Health’s regulations for tobacco control. Prosecutions can also be brought by a
range of organisations including the Crown Prosecution Service and Local Authorities.
Data on the total number of cases brought before the courts; the cost of those prosecutions;
and the costs or penalties related to all tobacco related offences is not held centrally.</p><p>HMRC
is unable to provide specific data relating to ‘illegal tobacco trading’ and ‘illegal
tobacco purchase and use’, as this split is not recorded in our data. The table below
shows the total number of tobacco cases dealt with by HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service
over the past three financial years.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial
Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Operations Adopted</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Revenue
Loss Protected (at date of intervention)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of
Individuals Convicted</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of Individuals Acquitted</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>406</p></td><td><p>£988,677,013</p></td><td><p>237</p></td><td><p>26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>324</p></td><td><p>£1,004,101,439</p></td><td><p>268</p></td><td><p>26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>365</p></td><td><p>£1,140,300,083</p></td><td><p>318</p></td><td><p>39</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p>Please note that the above data do not correlate to each other - they are separate
occurrences in a particular financial year.</p>
|
|
