From BBC

A group of Gambian diplomats who turned an embassy into a “warehouse” selling tax-free tobacco have been jailed.

Over three years, staff at the Gambian Diplomatic Mission ordered morethan half a million 50g pouches of tobacco.

It should only have been for personal use or for the Gambian High Commission but the seven staff, who did not smoke, sold much of it – cheating the UK out of £4.8m in VAT and excise duty.

The seven staff were jailed for at least three years each on Wednesday.

Deputy head of the mission Yusupha Bojang, 54, was jailed for seven years.

Bojang was the ringleader and was seen as a “father figure” by the others, Judge Michael Gledhill QC said.

Southwark Crown Court heard the group, some of whom ordered tobacco worth more than their annual salaries, became so bold that the embassy in Kensington had long queues of customers.

“The fraudulent ordering was so blatant that the only conclusion one can reach is that you were sure you would not be caught,” the judge said.

“The quantities of tobacco ordered meant that at times the mission must have looked like a wholesale warehouse.”

The seven workers included four diplomats, but the Gambian government waived their diplomatic immunity to allow prosecution.

The judge told the diplomats: “You were each sent to London to represent your country and you were certainly expected, as diplomats, to maintain the highest possible standards of integrity and honesty.

“Second, the UK was entitled to expect that you would respect and comply with the laws of this country. You have breached that trust as well.”

All seven embassy workers were earlier found guilty of conspiracy to cheat the revenue.

Read more at BBC