Convicted fraudster ordered to repay £87,000 to Hertfordshire victim 11 years after conviction

A convicted fraudster who was jailed after conning his victim out of more than £136,000 will repay her £87,000, after police used a restraint order to seize his money.

The man, from Stevenage, was convicted of fraud offences in 2010 after conning a victim in Hertfordshire out of money for roofing work.

In 2009 he undertook work that was assessed to have been worth only £15,000 but charged an extortionate £151,900, and was convicted of fraud and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

Following his conviction, he was initially ordered to repay £15,000 to his victim. However, following a further investigation launched by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) using Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) legislation, new funds were identified as being available to the fraudster.

Following a hearing at St Albans Crown Court on Friday, July 30, the victim will now receive a further £87,762.69, after the man consented to money seized from him using a restraint order being repaid to the victim.

Financial Investigation Manager Nick Bentley, from ERSOU’s Asset Confiscation Enforcement (ACE) team, said: “This successful outcome represents an 18 months long ACE investigation, chasing compensation owed to the victim of this despicable crime.

"Working with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the case was brought back before the courts, and we’re really pleased that despite 12 years having passed since the fraud was committed, the victim will now receive a substantial amount of money from the person who was responsible for taking it from them in the first place.”

“This case shows that no matter how long time has passed, we will be ruthless in our efforts to ensure that crime does not pay.”

Pennie Clarke, Specialist Prosecutor of the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division, said: “This man was a convicted fraudster, who along with two co-defendants overcharged a 69-year-victim £136,900 for roofing work in 2009. The CPS previously issued him with a £15,000 confiscation order.

“Thanks to an 18-month long ERSOU ACE team investigation in 2019, the CPS was satisfied the offender was in a financial position to pay back more. We were able to secure a consent order from him and deliver justice for the victim who was paid back directly as a result.

"Confiscation orders are for life, and we will always look to deprive criminals of their illegally gained funds by working with investigatory authorities.

“We were rightly able to deliver justice directly to the victim in this case. Economic Crime is not a victimless crime and even after twelve years, the CPS will always seek to make sure that crime does not pay.”

CPS Proceeds of Crime (CPS POC), which is a specialist national division dedicated to the recovery of assets and money.

After conviction the CPS can ask the court to make a confiscation order where the judge will consider two things:

- The total financial ‘benefit’ that a defendant made from their criminal activity

- The total value of the assets the defendant currently has to pay their order – known as the ‘available amount’.

When the available amount is less than the benefit amount the defendant is only ordered to pay the amount they have available.

Where criminals are identified as coming into money or assets after their Confiscation Order has been considered then the CPS can take the matter back to ask a judge to reconsider it, making a new Confiscation Order to deprive the criminal of them, up to the full criminal benefit amount.

Over £100m in criminal assets was recovered in respect of CPS prosecutions for 2019/20, stopping hundreds of criminals benefiting from their ill-gotten gains.