Press Release  Winchester Man Arraigned in Connection With State Investigation Into Tobacco Tax Fraud

Boston — A Winchester man was arraigned yesterday in Middlesex Superior Court in connection with a state investigation into tax fraud and possession with intent to sell unstamped cigarettes, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

Timothy F. Sullivan, 69, owner of Infinite Images dba Cigar Emporium in Woburn, was arraigned as a result of an investigation by the Illegal Tobacco Task Force and the AG’s White Collar and Public Integrity Division, with assistance from Massachusetts State Police assigned to the AG’s Office, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Woburn Police Department.

The AG’s Office began its investigation following a referral from the Illegal Tobacco Task Force. 

Investigators allege that from May 2015 to June 2017, Sullivan knowingly held for sale 12,000 or more cigarettes at Cigar Emporium in packs that lacked Massachusetts excise stamps. Investigators also allege that between July 2012 to October 2015, Sullivan filed false state cigar and smoking tobacco tax forms, and from January 2016 to October 2016, failed to file relevant tax forms for Infinite Images with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

The estimated value of excise tax due on unstamped cigarettes during this period is more than $62,000, and the estimated cigar and smoking tobacco excise tax due is more than $300,000.

Sullivan pleaded not guilty to one count of Possession with Intent to Sell 12,000 or More Unstamped Cigarettes in Middlesex Superior Court yesterday. He will be arraigned on charges of filing false tax returns and failing to file tax returns in Suffolk Superior Court on July 11.

These charges are allegations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Representatives from the AG’s Office, Massachusetts Department of Revenue, the Massachusetts State Police, Office of the State Treasurer, Executive Office of Public Safety and the Department of Public Health are working together on the Illegal Tobacco Task Force, which was created to combat contraband tobacco distribution throughout the state through civil and criminal investigative and enforcement actions.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Paula DeGiacomo of the AG’s White Collar and Public Integrity Division. The case was investigated by Senior Investigator Molly Parks of the AG’s Financial Investigations Division, the Illegal Tobacco Task Force, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s Criminal Investigations Bureau, with assistance from Massachusetts State Police assigned to the AG’s Office, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Woburn Police Department.

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