A BUSINESSMAN helped to smuggle more than 18 million illegal cigarettes into the UK by hiding them in board games.

James Spencer Hall, who ran the Bury-based company Man2Man, tried to avoid £3.5 million of taxes, Chester Crown Court heard.

Hall, aged 35, will be sentenced next month after he admitted a charge of being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of duty on the importation of 18,400,000 cigarettes between December 2008 and March 2009.

He was caught after HM Revenue and Customs officers intercepted the operation at Teesport Docks in Middlesbrough, on Boxing Day 2008.

They discovered the tobacco disguised under family board games, which were being sent to Hall’s storage and distribution company. It has since gone into administration.

Hall, who is married with a young child, was arrested at his home in Rainow, near Macclesfield, in August 2009.

He had initially denied the offence but pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial.

The Originals cigarettes were disguised with layers of Compendium board games then put into boxes and hauled into two large containers.

Philip Curran, prosecuting, said those further along the criminal chain had covered their tracks and cloned details of a legitimate company but there was no suggestion Hall was intending to sell the cigarettes himself.

A spokesperson for HM Revenue and Customs said: “Hall had claimed he was storing the cigarettes for a company closed over the Christmas holidays, but none of his excuses proved to be true.

“He attempted to flood the UK with millions of illegal cigarettes, evading tobacco duty to line his own pockets, thereby not only depriving the UK of essential public funds, but also undercutting legitimate retailers.

“HMRC will continue to work closely with UKBA officers at the frontier to disrupt criminal operations wherever possible. Anyone with information about cigarette smuggling should contact the customs hotline on 0800 595000.”

Hall is due to be sentenced at Warrington Crown Court on April 1.