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A Confiscation Order for £45,000 was granted earlier this week against a Motherwell man who had been convicted of illegal money lending.
A Confiscation Order is an order made by the court following criminal conviction, to pay a fixed sum of money from the proceeds of crime.
Thomas Reid was convicted in October 2011 of a breach of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 by engaging in a consumer credit business without the necessary licence.
Between 1985 and September 2005 Reid held a licence which permitted him to give loans and to collect monies from people’s homes. That licence lapsed on 1st September 2005, and despite receiving a reminder from the Office of Fair Trading, Reid failed to renew it. This meant that Reid did not hold the requisite licence for the consumer credit business he continued to operate between 2nd September 2005 and 3rd June 2010.
Following Reid’s conviction he received a fine of £750. Since 2005 he was found to have collected £74,000 of loans and had £105,000 of loans remained outstanding.
After a full assessment of his finances for the six years prior to his arrest, Reid was unable to account for £399,009.83. His available assets totalled £45,000, and this is the amount covered by the court order.
However, should further assets come to light in the future, the Crown has the power to apply to raise the level of the confiscation order to the total of the benefit enjoyed by Mr Reid through the illegal money lending.
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