Portsmouth shop owner ordered to pay £53,000 over counterfeit tobacco

Thursday, 16 October 2025 10:00

A Portsmouth shop owner has been ordered to pay more than £53,000 after being convicted of selling counterfeit and smuggled tobacco products.

A financial investigation into Fratton Food Store owner Ali Kader Ismil led to a Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation order totalling £53,480.49.

In April 2024, Mr Ismil was convicted of 14 offences relating to the possession and supply of fake branded cigarettes, smuggled non-UK tobacco and unregulated black-market products known as “cheap whites”. He was also found guilty of money laundering.

Following the conviction, investigators examined the financial benefit from the illegal activity, leading to the new confiscation order. If the amount is not paid within three months, Mr Ismil faces a prison sentence.

The order comes on top of an earlier sentence of 15 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and 150 hours of unpaid work, handed down in June 2025.

A co-owner of the shop, Salar Karim Karam, was previously issued a confiscation order of £27,260.20, bringing the total recovered from both men to more than £80,000.

The case was brought by Portsmouth City Council’s Trading Standards team, following the seizure of more than 45,000 counterfeit cigarettes from the shop.

Natalie Brahma-Pearl, Chief Executive of Portsmouth City Council said: “We are very pleased this conviction order will prevent this offender profiting from their crime and hopefully it will keep Portsmouth residents a little safer by acting as a deterrent to any other businesses. Honest shopkeepers’ trade is harmed by illegal sales of tobacco. The Council is on their side so we will do all we can to prevent and detect dishonest trading. We are committed to investigating businesses and individuals who break the law and bringing them to justice. Those selling counterfeit items and tobacco products will be caught and risk severe penalties.”

Counterfeit cigarettes are unregulated and can contain dangerous levels of harmful substances, including heavy metals and carcinogens. The illegal tobacco trade is also linked to organised crime and other serious offences, such as drug and people trafficking.

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