$90,000 in cash and contraband seized in Brooklyn bust

June 25, 2014 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

One Red Hook man was arrested and charged with $90,000 in tax fraud from contraband and cash

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The Brooklyn Daily Eagle has learned of a high-stakes contraband seizure in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance announced that its Cigarette Strike Force arrested a Brooklyn resident for illegally storing, trafficking, and selling contraband cigarettes.

The defendant, identified as Farouq A. Al-Mathil, 40, was arrested June 23 near a Red Hook storage facility located on Lorraine Street in Brooklyn. Booked at the 76th Precinct, Al-Mathil was charged with multiple felonies, including criminal tax fraud, possession and transport for sale of 30,000 or more cigarettes, and attempting to evade the state and city taxes imposed on those cigarettes.

The Tax Department recovered 898 cartons of brand-name cigarettes – with a sales value of at least $89,000 – that were either Virginia-stamped or stamped with counterfeit New York State and New York City cigarette tax stamps. The Department also seized various documents and ledgers and approximately $5,500 as evidence.

The case will be prosecuted by the Kings County District Attorney. No court date has been set.