On November 2, at Harrow Crown Court, Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service secured a confiscation order for £110,113 against John Evans (aged 60) of Laughton Road, Northolt, Middlesex.
His Honour Judge Mole made the order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and Mr Evans was ordered to pay the full amount within four months or face a further two years in prison. Even if he serves the default prison sentence for not paying the order, he will still owe the authorities the full amount with interest added to the outstanding balance.
The confiscation hearing resulted from an investigation by Brent & Harrow Trading Standards that had led to Mr Evans being sentenced in November 2009 to eight months in prison for selling fake and electrically unsafe laptop chargers from an on-line business that he was operating from premises in Rayners Lane. Evidence obtained by the officers had shown that Mr Evans had been operating his illegal business in counterfeit Sony, Dell and other lap top chargers since 2004 which had a turnover of nearly £200,000 per year.
Following this conviction, confiscation proceedings were instituted to recover the money that Mr Evans had made from his criminal conduct. A Financial Investigator from Brent & Harrow Trading Standardsused the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to expose the defendants finances over a six year period.
In making the order for the confiscation of £110,113, HHJ Mole stated that he was in no doubt that the defendant had intended to run his business so that all the profits were removed as quickly as possible to hide them from the authorities.
Speaking after the case, Bill Bilon, Director of Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service said: ‘In this case the laptop chargers were not only counterfeit but also electrically unsafe. I am pleased that my officers have acted so diligently to stop this illegal enterprise in order to protect the public locally as well as throughout the country. This case shows that crime really doesn’t pay as the defendant has not only served time in prison but has also been stripped of all his ill-gotten gains. The Proceeds of Crime Act is a powerful tool for enforcement agencies and I hope that this case will act as a deterrent to all those who are involved in criminal activities.’
Apart from this case, Brent & Harrow Trading Standards has had a number of other successes under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Nine confiscation orders have been secured in the past totalling £913,000 against individuals who have been convicted for selling counterfeit goods and clocked cars.
