|
Crime doesn't pay and that's a fact as over £230,000 has been seized from a convicted counterfeiter this week. Derbyshire County Council's trading standards team is continuing to hit criminals where it hurts following a successful Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation hearing. The council's trading standards team were in Derby Crown Court on Monday August 18 to see £236,895 of assets seized from a convicted counterfeiter. A 66-year-old Dronfield man was convicted in January 2008 of six counts of supplying video recordings of an unclassified work, one count of possession of a video recording of an unclassified work for the purpose of supply and two counts of making an infringing copy of a copyright work. He received a 14 month prison sentence. Following on from this, Derbyshire County Council's trading standards team enlisted the help of the Assets Recovery Agency to seize money made from the illegal acts. The agency uses special powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act to seize cash and other assets such as property from convicted criminals. At the confiscation hearing held at Derby Crown Court on Monday, the man was ordered to pay £236,895 within six months. Failure to do so will mean he will serve an additional 30 months in prison. The money will be divided between trading standards, the Home Office and the courts to use in future crime enforcement and prevention work. Derbyshire County Council's cabinet member for community safety Clive Moesby said: "We are sending out a tough message to counterfeiters and other criminals in Derbyshire "Not only will you face the very real possibility of a prison sentence, you also stand to lose any of the profit you made from the crime to begin with. "We are delighted with the outcome of this recent Proceeds of Crime hearing. This sends out a powerful warning to anyone who may be tempted to produce or deal in fakes." Derbyshire County Council is currently in the process of recruiting an accredited financial investigator who will be responsible for future Proceeds of Crime investigations. |
