The owner of Blue Nile Groceries pleaded guilty to two charges in total
A businessman based in South Belfast has pleaded guilty to duty and VAT fraud on a haul of cigarettes. Adel Mohammed Hasaballah, of Blue Nile Groceries, Donegall Road, was due to go on trial at Belfast Crown Court on Monday. But defence barrister Tim Jebb told Judge Gordon Kerr KC he had an application to have Hasaballah re-arraigned to the two counts he faced. The first count stated that on July 28, 2023 the 46-year-old was “knowingly concerned in carrying, removing, depositing, harbouring, keeping or concealing, or in any manner dealing with such goods, namely 21,640 cigarettes” with the intention to defraud duty payable on the goods.
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When the charge was put to him by court clerk, Hasaballah, who was assisted by an interpreter in the dock, replied: “Guilty.” He further pleaded guilty that on the same date he was “knowingly concerned in, or in the taking of steps with a view to, the fraudulent evasion of VAT”. Judge Kerr ordered a pre-sentence report by the Probation Board and said he would pass sentence on January 14, 2026. Hasaballah was released on continuing bail until the hearing in January but Judge Kerr warned him not to take this as an indication of what sentence he will pass in the case.
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