No subject

who moved them illegally into Canada, mainly through the Cornwall 
area in eastern Ontario near the borders with Quebec and New 
York.

"We are disappointed that the RCMP has decided to proceed with 
politically motivated criminal charges against our company, including 
current and former employees who are honest and law-abiding 
individuals," JTI spokesperson Guy Cote said in a news release.
Lawyers for all of them have assured the Mounties that their clients 
will appear in a Toronto courtroom on March 26, said RCMP 
Inspector Robert Davis.

The alleged offences occurred between 1991 and 1996, a period 
when Ottawa and some provinces, including Ontario and Quebec, 
had steeply increased tobacco taxes, in part to discourage 
consumption.

However, because taxes in the U.S. were much lower, a black 
market in contraband cigarettes developed. Ottawa and the 
provinces eventually scaled back their levies to remove the incentive 
for the illegal trade.

In addition to JTI-Macdonald Corp., formerly RJR-Macdonald Inc. of 
Toronto, the RCMP charged R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Inc., R.J. 
Reynolds Tobacco International Inc. and Northern Brands 
International Inc., all registered in Delaware and at the time of the 
alleged offences all affiliated with RJR Nabisco Holdings.

The individuals charged are Edward Lang, identified by the RCMP 
as a former director of RJR-Macdonald and senior vice-president of 
R.J. Reynolds; Dale Sisel, former CEO of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco 
International; Jaap Uittenbogaard, former chief financial officer of 
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco International and director of Northern Brands 
International; Pierre Brunelle, former CEO and board member of 
RJR-Macdonald; Paul Neumann, a former VP of RJR-Macdonald; 
Roland Kostantos, former CFO of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco 
International and RJR-Macdonald; Stanley Smith, a former VP of 
RJR-Macdonald; and Peter MacGregor, a former manager for 
Northern Brands International.

The RCMP also named Larry Miller, serving a 17=A01/2-year prison 
sentence in the U.S. for smuggling and conspiracy, as an unindicted 
co-conspirator.

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