Man charged with peddling cigarettes marked with counterfeit tax stamp

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Local, state and federal authorities teamed up to arrest a Garfield man who they said was selling cigarettes marked with bogus tax stamps.

Jerry DeMarco

03/31/2011 6:29 p.m.

Piotr Ligmanowski (courtesy of BCPO)

In a unique display of teamwork, Garfield police, detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, members of the state Treasury Department and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives trailed and then took Piotr Ligmanowski, 35, of Chestnut Street into custody Wednesday.

He was carrying 59 cartons bearing counterfeit State of New Jersey tax stamps, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Mollinelli said. Cartons from several others states were later found in his third-floor apartment, the prosecutor said.

By selling illegally stamped cigarettes to legitimate merchants, Molinelli said, thieves cost the state tax revenue that ends up being offset by property owners.

Ligmanowski is being held on $50,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with having and distributing counterfeit cigarettes.

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