Print

Mail

wiki links

Taiwan Quick Take: Couple charged in Australia

A Taiwanese couple have been charged in Brisbane over a tobacco scam that allegedly cheated the government out of more than US$7.6 million in evaded taxes, police said yesterday. The 61-year-old man and the 56-year-old woman, who were not identified, were the focus of a two-year investigation into illegal sales of duty-free tobacco in July 2000 to November 2004, police said. The investigation, code-named Operation Havanese, has already resulted in three men receiving suspended one-year prison sentences for tobacco tax evasion. More than US$15.3 million worth of assets, including a Brisbane office building, houses and luxury cars, have been seized, Agence France Presse said. The couple were arrested last month in their home at Aspley and were to appear in court later yesterday.

This story has been viewed 1505 times.