FLUSHING — Authorities charged a man with bilking the city out of thousands of dollars in tax revenue by peddling un-stamped cigarettes, the Queens district attorney said.
Tiezhao Jiao, 59, was charged last week with various violations of the state’s cigarette-and-tobacco tax law after searched his home and allegedly found 1,248 cartons of assorted, untaxed Asian and American brand cigarettes, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Jiao’s alleged scheme cost the city more than $83,000 in tax revenue, according to Brown, who said the defendant faces up to four years in prison if convicted.