Verdict - Untaxed shisha tobacco: imprisonment for brothers
After a trial lasting more than a year, the Düsseldorf Regional Court has found four brothers guilty of trafficking 63 tons of untaxed shisha tobacco. They had been guilty of tax evasion amounting to 1.4 million euros and had formed a criminal organization. The court sentenced them to between three years and five months and four and a half years in prison.
The four brothers are attributed to the Al-Z. clan. A fifth defendant received a suspended sentence of one and a half years as a supporter. The court relied not only on the testimony of numerous witnesses and wiretap and surveillance logs, but also on the confessions of the two 46 and 51-year-old defendants.
According to them, the brothers had "produced tons of hookah tobacco in Solingen and Langenfeld factories between 2016 and 2018 and sold it under counterfeit brand names at dumping prices throughout Germany and Europe", said the presiding judge.
The production volume corresponded to the annual sales of well-known commercial manufacturers and suppliers of water pipe tobacco operating on the German market.
According to the court, the tasks had been clearly distributed. A 43-year-old had provided the production and storage facilities in Solingen and Langenfeld, while a 38-year-old had procured the flavorings and the raw tobacco. The 46-year-old was responsible for packaging and distribution.
The defense attorneys for the two confessing 46- and 51-year-old main offenders had demanded suspended or moderate prison sentences for their clients. The defense attorneys for the three co-defendants had requested acquittals.
On the basis of the aroma used, the investigators had assumed a tax loss of 4.5 million euros. The court considered this to be unproven. The verdict is not final; both the public prosecutor's office and the defense can appeal.
During a raid in July 2018, 2.3 tons of water pipe tobacco, 550 kilograms of raw tobacco, machines, five high-quality cars and cash were seized. Officers from the Essen customs investigation office searched 29 properties in Solingen, Essen, Langenfeld and Heilbronn during the operation.
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- The illegal shisha tobacco production and trafficking operations carried out by the Al-Z. clan members were primarily based in factories located in Solingen and Langenfeld, both in North Rhine-Westphalia.
- The Regional Court in Düsseldorf found evidence of criminality in the form of tax evasion, amounting to over 1.4 million euros, related to the sale of untaxed tobacco in Europe, with significant operations in Solingen.
- The conviction of four brothers, along with a suspended sentence for a fifth defendant, was primarily based on testimonies, wiretap and surveillance logs, and confessions, all of which shed light on the involvement of Solingen in the illegal tobacco trade.
- A key part of the criminal organization's operations was the selling of counterfeit shisha tobacco at low prices across Germany and Europe, with production volumes comparable to those of well-known commercial manufacturers in North Rhine-Westphalia.
- After recognizing the clear distribution of tasks within the organization, the Solingen-based member provided production and storage facilities, while others procured flavorings and raw tobacco, packaged and distributed the tobacco throughout the region.
Source: www.stern.de
