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Brooklyn man charged with selling counterfeit cigarettes

Cell phone.
Cell phone. Photo Credit: Getty Images / Pool

A Brooklyn man was charged with allegedly selling at least 30,000 in counterfeit cigarettes, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance said Wednesday.

Farouq A. Al-Mathil, 40, allegedly stored and trafficked cigarettes either Virginia-stamped or branded with counterfeit New York state and city cigarette tax stamps. He was taken into custody Monday near a Red Hook storage facility, authorities said.

More than 890 cartons of brand name cigarettes, worth about $89,000, were recovered. Al-Mathil was charged with several offenses, including criminal tax fraud and attempting to evade state and city taxes.

Al-Mathil couldn’t be reached for comment and it could not be determined if he had retained an attorney.