By Ivan Pereira

A Queens merchant was arrested last week after investigators discovered he was hoarding hundreds of cartons of untaxed cigarettes in two apartments, the Queens district attorney said.

Ricky Lin,  of Maple Avenue, was arraigned on more than 15,000 criminal counts on Dec. 27 including trademark counterfeiting, Queens DA Richard Brown said.

Investigators, who were conducting an investigation into illegal sales of untaxed cigarettes, found the 33-year-old man was carrying several cartons of cigarettes while he was riding in his bike near his apartment on Jan 26., according to the DA.

Those cartons  did not have the mandated New York state taxing stamp, according to the DA.

“For every dollar or two dollars a store owner or consumer saves by purchasing an untaxed pack of cigarettes, the honest taxpayer becomes the victim by being forced to dip into his or her pocket to pay higher taxes,” Brown said in a statement.

The investigators issued two search warrants for two apartments that he owned and discovered nearly 14,500 counterfeit Virginia tax stamps, nearly 1,400 of untaxed cigarette cartons and $32,000 in cash, Brown said.

Lin, who allegedly  kept records of his sales and customers, was ordered to be held on $15,000 bail and was ordered to return to court next week.