Sharon Residents Charged with Evading Tobacco Taxes

Two men from Sharon have been indicted for allegedly selling tobacco products illegally and laundering the profits.

Muhammad Saleem Iqbal, 53, and Kaleem Ahmad, 47, were indicted this week on one count of wholesale tobacco tax fraud and one count of money laundering conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office

According to the indictment, Iqbal and a business partner operated a wholesale business in Norwood under the name “Pick N Dip.” The business sold tobacco products, as well as other non-tobacco items, to convenience stores, gas stations and other retail businesses.

In order to evade state tobacco taxes, Iqbal, Ahmad and a business partner repeatedly purchased tens of thousands of dollars at a time worth of smokeless tobacco and cigars in Pennsylvania where no taxes are imposed for these tobacco products. They then arranged to have these tobacco products covertly transported to Massachusetts for resale, without filing the records required by Massachusetts state law and federal law, and without paying excise taxes.

In Massachusetts, smokeless tobacco wholesalers must file an excise tax form monthly and pay a 210% excise tax on smokeless tobacco brought into Massachusetts. Cigar wholesalers must file an excise tax form quarterly and must pay a 40% excise tax on cigars brought into Massachusetts.

To hide the sale and transportation of the products, Ahmad and others allegedly engaged in large cash transactions. The indictment alleges that Ahmad and others transported more than $50,000 in cash at a time from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania where the money was used to purchase additional untaxed smokeless tobacco and cigars.

Both men face up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised released, and a fine of $250,000.