Man Pleads Guilty to Failing to Pay a Half Million Dollars in Tobacco Excise Tax

WOBURN – Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Massachusetts Department of Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey E. Snyder have announced that Javed Iqbal Shaikh, 46 of Waltham has pleaded guilty to six counts of tax evasion in connection with failing to pay a half million dollars in tobacco excise tax over three years while he was the owner of Cronin’s Market, located in Waltham.

Mr. Shaikh was sentenced to one year in the house of corrections, six months to serve, balance suspended for five years on the first four counts and five years probation on the two additional counts. 

In the years 2018, 2019, and 2020, Javed Iqbal Shaikh routinely purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars in untaxed “other tobacco products”, including smokeless tobacco, cigars, and smoking tobacco, from a company located outside the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The defendant did not collect Massachusetts excise taxes on these purchases, which caused the defendant to be responsible for paying such taxes on the products.  Further, as part of those purchases the invoices clearly stated that he was responsible for paying excise taxes on these purchases.

Over the three years Mr. Shaikh made many purchases and did not pay any excise tax on the products. Based on information compiled from invoices, bank records, and delivery records, Javed Iqbal Shaikh failed to pay over $550,000 in tobacco excise tax. 

The excise tax for cigar and smoking tobacco is imposed by General Laws Chapter 64C, section 7B, and the excise tax for smokeless tobacco imposed by General Laws 64C, sections 6, 7A, and 7C.

The prosecutor assigned to this case is Assistant District Attorney Whitney Williams. This case was investigated by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue Criminal Investigations Bureau.