Criminals forced to pay back millions by courts

West Yorkshire Police has this year secured court orders worth more than £12m against some of the region’s most sophisticated offenders.

Many of them have been put behind bars – and, under the terms of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), they will return to jail if they fail to pay up.

The West Yorkshire force now has a dedicated POCA unit in each of its divisions and, according to Deputy Chief Constable David Crompton, the approach is hitting criminals where it hurts them most.

Mr Crompton said: “While crime often destroys the lives of innocent people, whether it be through theft, fraud or money laundering, our teams of officers and financial investigators can strip those criminals of their luxurious lifestyles which are often funded through their criminal enterprises.

“From the money that we seize or confiscate from individuals, a large proportion of that goes back into the neighbourhoods for the greater good.

“Community and voluntary groups across West Yorkshire benefit from POCA seizures every year and receive funding from the force for projects to tackle local priorities such as anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol abuse or burglary.

“Every day we are obtaining significant confiscation orders through the courts and seizing cash as a result of thorough investigations and therefore the figures are and will continue to rise.”

Criminals counting the cost of a POCA order include former property developer John Elam, of York Place, Leeds, who was jailed for nine years after being convicted of conspiracy to defraud, assault and perverting the course of justice.

He was at the head of illegal enterprises involving the fraudulent running of a Leeds restaurant and a string of car washes.

He and his co-conspirators were given confiscation orders totalling more than £2m.

Another criminal subject to a confiscation order is Marvin Wilson, of The Meadows, Scarcroft, Leeds, who is serving a 10-year sentence for conspiring to supply cocaine, Ecstasy and cannabis, as well as money laundering and fraud by false representation.

Wilson used false documents to obtain mortgages and credit cards and then bought a £30,000 boat that police believe he was planning to use to import drugs.

Police in Leeds have secured 112 orders this year, including six for members of a gang who conspired to import illegal body-building drugs worth more than £5m.

The group, headed by ringleader Nicholas Aristotelous, of Roker Lane, Pudsey, was ordered to repay more than £500,000.

In the Airedale and North Bradford division, orders were handed to Michael Standing, of Wrose Road, Shipley, who was found guilty of money laundering and drugs offences, and Simon Jackson, of Brewery Street, Keighley, who stole plant machinery worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The Bradford South POCA unit secured an order against Bhupinder Kaur, of West Park Drive West, Leeds, who stole £113,000 from a charity for the disabled.

Police in Kirklees obtained a forfeiture order for more than £1.1m after bundles of cash, contaminated with heroin, were found in properties in Crosland Moor, Huddersfield.

One of the 65 orders secured by Wakefield officers is against Robert Price, of Hollyshaw Terrace, Leeds, who was jailed for eight years for his involvement in a cannabis smuggling operation.

Calderdale officers obtained an order against Aamer Ali, of Rhodes Street, Halifax, for his involvement in the world’s biggest production of counterfeit computer games.

Ali was jailed for five years in April 2010 after police seized more than 6,000 games, 400 consoles, more than 80 stolen televisions and more than 200 stolen laptop computers.

Other significant court orders secured in Yorkshire this year include the £800,000 bill for travelling fraudsters Dennis and Bianca McGinley, who conned victims out of money by pretending they were in the IRA and threatening them with violence.

One of their victims, a York farmer, handed over almost £1m in 12 months after they threatened to kneecap him and kill his elderly mother.

Five victims will be confiscated with money seized under the order, which is the largest secured by North Yorkshire Police this year.

South Yorkshire Police’s economic crime unit manager, Graham Wragg, said: “The work of a POCA unit has got more difficult as criminals have become more aware that investigators are going to pursue them for the money.

“They are now taking greater steps to hide the money, but the counter-argument to that is the fact they have to hide it means they cannot use it as freely as they used to.

“They cannot spend the money they are making from crime, which has a deterrent effect.”