Former British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea representative, Guy Andrew Meldrum, has been acquitted of charges of evading taxes on cigarettes worth billions of won. According to the Seoul Central District Court, Meldrum was found not guilty on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to prove his involvement in the alleged tax evasion scheme. The court stated that although the crime of tax evasion requires proof of illegal means to evade taxes, the evidence presented was not enough to establish guilt.
Meldrum was charged with conspiring with employees to falsely report the export of 24.63 million packs of cigarettes from a manufacturing plant in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, on December 31, 2014. The government had increased the tax on cigarettes to 1,082.5 won per pack starting from January 1, 2015. The prosecution claimed that the accused took advantage of the imposition of taxes at the time of export to commit tax evasion. The estimated amount of tax evasion amounted to 50.3 billion won, including individual consumption tax, tobacco consumption tax, and local education tax.
Meldrum, who had left Korea before being subjected to a National Tax Service investigation in April 2019, had been on trial since April of this year. Other former BAT Korea executives and the corporation itself were also charged but were acquitted of all charges in November last year.
This verdict comes at a time when the National Tax Service has announced its intention to reduce tax investigations to a historically low level this year. Despite concerns about the worst-ever decline in tax revenue, the agency will maintain a policy of not conducting excessive tax investigations.
In summary, Guy Andrew Meldrum, former BAT Korea representative, has been acquitted of charges of evading taxes on cigarettes worth billions of won due to insufficient evidence. The court stated that the evidence presented was not enough to prove his involvement in the alleged tax evasion scheme. This verdict comes as the National Tax Service plans to reduce tax investigations to a historically low level in order to maintain fiscal stability amidst a decline in tax revenue.
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