Owners of Springfield, Chicopee businesses, deny defrauding Mass. of cigarette taxes

Two men have pleaded innocent in Hampden Superior Court in separate cases on charges they evaded state excise taxes by illegally selling unstamped cigarettes, collectively defrauding the state more than $300,000.
Jin Zheng, 30, formerly of East Longmeadow, faces charges of possession with intent to sell unstamped cigarettes, evasion of cigarette excise taxes, subscribing to false income tax and false sales tax returns, and failure to file sales tax returns.
Thomas Lesperance, 45, of South Hadley is charged with two counts of possession-sale of cigarettes not bearing required state excise tax stamp and tax evasion.
According to the attorney general’s office, the Zheng family sold unstamped cigarettes representing nearly $163,000 in unpaid taxes at their Springfield restaurant, the Fu Soun; while Lesperance is accused of selling cigarettes at his Neighbors Variety convenience stores in Chicopee and Springfield that were not properly stamped, representing more than $150,000 in unpaid taxes.
Each pleaded innocent Monday, and Zheng’s co-defendants, his sister Mei Zhen Zheng, 34, and her husband, Liang Fu Xu, 37, both of East Longmeadow, are scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 4 on two charges each.

High school students cited for selling, buying cigarettes

Two Stewartville High School students have been charged with selling and possessing tobacco. 
Olmsted County Sheriff Detective Lee Rossman said a 15-year-old has been cited with a misdemeanor for selling cigarettes on campus. The 17-year-old, who allegedly purchased the cigarettes, has been cited with a petty misdemeanor for possession. 
Rossman said it happened on Sept. 24. He said the 17-year-old was caught with a cigarette in his possession and said he bought it from the younger teen. 
Rossman said that when deputies checked the younger teen's locker, they found more cigarettes inside, which were seized.

Discarded cigarette causes 24-hour forest fire in Carrog

A DISCARDED cigarette sparked a 24-hour woodland blaze.
Fifty-five firefighters battled raging flames that engulfed 10 acres of cleared forestry in Carrog near Corwen.
The fire broke out just after 1pm on Monday and crews were still damping down the area last night.At the height of the fire, they had to shuttle water from the River Dee two miles away in their bid to bring the flames under control.
Yesterday, fire investigators said they believe a cigarette caused the inferno, which was tackled by teams from Corwen, Llangollen, Ruthin, Bala, Cerrigydrudion, Chirk, Prestatyn and Conwy, as well as a water carrier from Wrexham, and the Incident Command Unit from Rhyl.
The area affected was described as 10 acres of cleared forestry and brushwood.
A North Wales Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said: The fire appears to have been caused by careless disposal of smoking materials.
“Two four-wheeled vehicles and two appliances ferried water and damped down deep-seated hotspots.
“In total, approximately 55 firefighters attended the incident.”
An eye witness, who did not want to be named said: “Orange flames were peaking quite high causing really dense smoke. Everywhere looked like it was covered with thick black fog that started to sting my eyes after just a short while.
“The firefighters were frantically trying to bring the blaze under control.”
Gareth Griffiths, senior operations manager said: “The fire appears to have been caused by careless disposal of a cigarette. Fires like this place tremendous pressure on resources, with firefighters tied up for a considerable length of time trying to bring them under control.
“These fires put the lives of the public and fire crews at risk and blight the countryside.”
He added: “We urge people to think again about the consequences of their actions – carelessly discarded cigarette ends and smoking materials can easily start fires which spread quickly and ferociously.”

Jinan Folks Fret about Floor-price on Cigarettes

Local residents in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, are complaining about a recent floor price imposed on cigarettes sold in the city, the Legal Daily reported on Wednesday.
The local tobacco authority of Jinan issued a regulation at the end of last year setting a minimum sale price for cigarettes, effectively driving brands that sell below five yuan a pack out of the local market.
The report quoted retailers as saying the rock bottom price for cigarettes sales will not impact their businesses that much, but will surely upset the city's migrant workers who can only afford cheaper smokes.
"My monthly income is only 900 yuan. Apart from my personal expenses, I have to save money to support my family. How can I afford cigarettes that sell at least five yuan each pack?" said a migrant worker from Southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Now, he and other migrant workers have to roll tobacco and make cigarettes themselves. 
Sun, a retired Jinan citizen who kept buying cigarettes for two yuan each pack for many years, was angry about the regulation.
"How come you can still get cigarettes for two yuan in cites like Beijing and Shenzhen, while we have to buy cigarettes above five yuan in Jinan?" Sun argued.
Some local retailers disclosed that in the tobacco market, higher retail prices garner more profit for retailers and companies. 
A professor in Shandong University's law department who preferred to remain anonymous said the introduction of the minimum price was illegal. 
On one hand, the regulation deprives consumers of their right to freely choose cigarettes of different prices and brands. On the other, the price margin imposed is in fact a disguised price-hike, which only central government departments have the authority to issue, meaning the Jinan Tobacco Bureau has overstepped its authority, the law professor added.