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Imperial, Rothmans Agree to Pay C$1.15 Billion Over Smuggling  

Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. and Rothmans Inc., Canada's two biggest tobacco companies, agreed to pay about C$1.15 billion ($1.12 billion) in fines and penalties to settle charges they aided cigarette smuggling in the 1990s.

Imperial, the Canadian unit of the U.K.'s British American Tobacco Plc, was fined C$200 million after admitting it helped people sell untaxed cigarettes, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. Toronto-based Rothmans, which makes Benson & Hedges, also pleaded guilty and was fined C$100 million.

``These are the largest fines ever levied in Canada,'' Mike Cabana, the RCMP's assistant commissioner, said at a news conference in Ottawa. ``The message sent today is that no company is above the law.''

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