other flagship brand. Lawsuits Rothmans has been involved in a number of lawsuits in Canada. In a key suit which commenced in 2006, Rothmans was criminally prosecuted for fraud and conspiracy for supporting the smuggling of cigarettes on the black market in the early 1990s. The allegation was that Rothmans encouraged smuggling in order to be able to convince Canadian governments to reduce cigarette taxes and thereby discourage that very smuggling. Rothmans pleaded guilty to the charges in 2008 and agreed to pay a fine of C$100 million, and C$450 million in payments for a decade after the initial fine. References External links Tobacco companies of Canada Philip Morris International