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Man pays pack ill-gotten gains

Northumbria Police

5 August 2010


A Gateshead man has been ordered to pay back £140,000 of his ill-gotten gains.
Arthur Matthew Clarke, formerly of Spen Road, Greenside, Gateshead, was arrested on 31 March, 2008, as part of Operation Payback 2.
In September 2009 he was convicted of five offences of cheating the revenue over a period of five years.
The arrest followed a money laundering investigation which identified a trail of income declarations. Detectives uncovered a series of discrepancies between the income Clarke declared to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the income he claimed in support of a series of applications for financial products including loans, credit cards and mortgages.
Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, police can seize any cash or goods if they're believed to be criminal property or being used to commit crime.
Detective Chief Inspector Jim Mcall said: "The order imposed by the court represents the total value of all Clarke's remaining assets.
"In effect he has lost everything.
"If he cannot pay within a fixed time his custodial sentence will be extended, and the debt will still have to be paid."
Superintendent Dennis Shotton of Gateshead Area Command said: "This is an excellent result for police and it serves as a warning to any other criminals that crime does not pay.
"When criminals are convicted they may not only sacrifice their freedom but they can also lose the cash and ill-gotten gains they've gathered through criminal activities.
"Northumbria Police does not tolerate those who live their lives on the back of crime.  We will continue to target criminals who live extravagant lifestyles without any obvious legal source of income."