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eBay fraudster must pay back £100,000
LANCASHIRE police have secured a £ 102,000 confiscation order against a convicted eBay fraudster from Nelson who cheated thousands of people out of their hard-earned cash across the world.
Jonathan Hartley (26), of Scotland Road, is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence after admitted five counts of obtaining services by deception totalling 39,292.91, five counts of fraud totalling 15,000 and one count of money laundering totalling 113,501.76.
He used the names of real and fictitious people to open accounts on the internet auction site eBay and sent out defective or fake electronic goods to unsuspecting buyers.
Hartley was arrested in September, 2007 following a nine-month investigation by Det. Con. Simon Robinson, of Pendle CID, and was brought back before Burnley Crown Court on Monday under the Proceeds of Crime Act following a detailed financial investigation by Lancashire Constabulary looking back six years.
As a result, his overall benefit figure from crime was calculated as 141,028.52 but the amount he had available is slightly less than this figure and he has been ordered to repay 102,206.04 by July 31st, 2009 or face a further 12 months in jail and still owe the money on his release with accrued interest.
A total of 927.52 has been set aside by the judge from the confiscation amount to be paid to as compensation to 34 identified victims.
Financial Investigator DC Adrian Crorken said: "This case should send out a clear warning to other people involved in similar scams that not only will you be brought to justice, we will also strip you of the money you acquired.
"The robust use we are making of the Proceeds of Crime Act is having a real impact. In most cases, the main motivation of people like Hartley is financial gain and therefore this is an area in which we can hit them hardest.
"We target the profits of criminal activity at all levels in our communities, whether they are convicted drug dealers or those who commit complex frauds."
Mr Richard Ambrose, Head of Trust and Safety for eBay in the UK, said: "We have worked closely with Lancashire Constabulary on this case and today's announcement sends out a clear signal to people who try and defraud buyers on our site that they won't get away with it.
"We would strongly recommend that buyers on eBay pay for their item with PayPal, which is offered as a payment option on every listing, because this means that you are covered for the full amount of your purchase on the rare occasion that anything does go wrong."
Police have been able to identify 34 of Hartley's victims with a total loss of just under 1,000. Under confiscation legislation, half of the remainder of the money is divided between the CPS, the Magistrates' Court Service and the police.
Lancashire Constabulary gets back around 18 per cent of confiscations which is ploughed back into policing.
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