A vape boss branded “greedy” by a judge has been ordered to hand over £250,000 of his criminal profits – or face another two-and-a-half years behind bars.
Ethan Smith has already been jailed for running an illegal vape empire and later for lying to a judge over the ownership of a flash BMW. Now, unless he coughs up a quarter of a million pounds within three months, he will be sent back to prison.
Swansea Crown Court heard prosecutors believe Smith has access to “hidden assets” that financial investigators have been unable to trace and will have to use those funds to settle the bill, reports WalesOnline.
Smith was jailed in May 2024 after being caught selling illegal vapes from shops in Llanelli and Swansea as well as an online business operating from a unit on Bynea Industrial Estate.
Trading standards officers launched an investigation after carrying out a test purchase at Smith’s Oxford Street shop in Swansea city centre. After successfully buying an illegal vape, officers seized more than 1,100 products.
But the court heard Smith simply restocked the shelves and reopened for business the very next day.
Although he was not at the shop during the raid, Smith was contacted by phone and was abusive towards council officers and police community support officers called to the scene.
View 3 ImagesEthan Smith(Image: South Wales Police)
When sentencing him, Judge Huw Rees said the vape business had started out as a legitimate enterprise before Smith’s desire for profit took over.
The judge said the unlawful trading was the result of the defendant “becoming greedy”.
Taking into account his guilty plea, Smith, of Llys Cilsaig, Dafen, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, was sentenced to 41 months in prison.
A proceeds of crime investigation later examined his finances and led to a further conviction after he lied about who owned his £37,000 BMW M Sport Competition.
Smith and his friend Marshall Hayes, of North Road, Penygroes, Llanelli, falsely claimed Hayes had bought the car and produced what appeared to be an invoice from a garage in Leeds to back up the story.
The pair even gave evidence under oath at a hearing in April last year, insisting the sale was genuine.
Investigators later proved the invoice was fake and that both men had lied to the court. Smith was jailed for 12 months for perverting the course of justice, while Hayes received a nine-month sentence for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
View 3 ImagesBMW M Sport Competition
Smith, who has since been released on licence, returned to court this month as proceeds of crime proceedings reached their conclusion.
The court heard he had benefited from his criminal conduct to the tune of £300,000. Investigators identified assets including cash, two motorboats, two caravans and three vehicles – a Range Rover, BMW and Mercedes.
However, prosecutors said the turnover generated by the vape operation suggested Smith had access to further “hidden assets” which investigators had been unable to locate.
A confiscation order was ultimately agreed in the sum of £250,000. Smith was given three months to pay the money or face a default prison sentence of 30 months.
It is understood the assets already identified fall short of the amount owed, meaning Smith will have to realise previously unidentified funds to avoid being sent back to jail.
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