$500 fine for smuggling

Press, 9 February 1983, Page 7

$500 fine for smuggling

A Waimairi District councillor, Ralph Walter Skjellerup, aged 47, has been fined $5OO by Judge Fraser in the District Court on a charge of smuggling. He was convicted, after a defended hearing on a charge of making a false customs declaration about the cost of a radio-cassette and a camera, with intent to defraud. The Judge said, in convicting and fining the defendant, that he accepted that he had a blameless record. However, he could not ac-

cept that those were muddled mistakes. He found there was an attempt by the defendant to evade. The defendant was represented by Mr C. B. Atkinson. Mr D. J. L. Saunders, who appeared for the Customs Department, said that a customs officer discovered the two items to be undervalued on the defendant’s arrival at Christchurch Airport from Australia last August 21. The radio was declared as costing $NZ199.95 (instead of its true cost of sAust399) and the camera was declared at

> SNZI29 (instead of sAustl69). [ The undervaluations : would have resulted in the defendant’s evading $529 in duty and sales tax, Mr Saun- ( ders said. ; Mr Atkinson submitted in mitigation that the defendant , had already suffered i severely. The radio and camera had been confisi cated. He also had to suffer the ; social consequences, against the background of a blame- ! less career and a position of standing in the community.