Exclusive: Gallery of rogues who face £2.4m payback

West Yorkshire Police has published the pictures of 13 criminals who have been told to repay their ill-gotten gains on time or face lengthy jail terms.

The rogues' gallery includes the mastermind of Britain's largest MoT scam, four men convicted of drug dealing and two women found guilty of running brothels.

A money launderer who allowed 4.5m to pass through his bank accounts in only five months and a conman who stole from an elderly woman are also included in the list.

It is the first time that Yorkshire's largest police force has published photographs of criminals who have been ordered to repay cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

Where possible, the force will reinvest the money in the areas where the offenders committed their crimes, providing grants to community projects.

The move follows West Yorkshire's successful Why Should They? campaign, which encourages the public to call Crimestoppers if they suspect their neighbours are living beyond their means.

North Yorkshire Police announced earlier this week that it was

starting a similar campaign, urging the public to report known criminals who have lifestyles funded by theft, drug dealing, shoplifting, fraud and money laundering.

The head of West Yorkshire Police's economic crime unit, Det Chief Insp Steve Taylor, said: "It benefits local communities and takes away the incentive that criminals have – to make money.

"Criminals themselves do not like it. Even in the prison magazines they are grumbling about it and exchanging advice about how they can use delaying tactics to make our job more difficult, so we know how effective it is.

"If you take the money away from the criminals after they have been convicted, it means they cannot start up again after they come out of prison."

Of the 13 convicts named and shamed today, Roobik Mirzabegi, 53, formerly of Broadcroft Chase, Tingley, Wakefield, faced the largest bill – more than 1.1m.

Mirzabegi was jailed for four years for spearheading a complex fraud at four Leeds garages which saw MoT certificates issued for vehicles which had not been checked.

His estranged wife Julie, 52, whose bank accounts were used to launder money from the fraud, is also pictured today after she was ordered to repay 375,000.

The Mirzabegis are among 240 crooks who were landed with confiscation orders by courts in West Yorkshire last year.

Between April 2009 and March this year, West Yorkshire Police confiscated assets worth 3.932m from criminals and recovered an extra 1.265m in cash believed to have been involved in crime.

Convicts who fail to repay the money before a given time limit face jail sentences of up to 10 years and, even then, the debt stays with them.

Det Chief Insp Taylor said convicts would be pursued for their assets no matter how serious their offending might be.

He said: "It is not about bringing in the people who will lead us to confiscate the largest amount of money; it is about tackling the harm that these criminals cause to their communities.

Projects which have been supported with confiscated money include a karate club, a sports centre and a treatment programme for recovering addicts.

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said money from criminals could also be used to support future POCA investigations.