A crooked accountant who stole £250,000 from his clients to pay for a mistress and a luxury lifestyle has been stripped of £130,000 of his criminal gains.
Darren John Upton, 40, of Woodlesford, is currently serving a six-year prison sentence after being convicted of fraud offences.
He worked as an accountant and had been receiving payments from clients and friends in order to pay their Corporation Tax only to deposit the money into his own bank accounts.
A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Leeds Crown Court heard how the value of Upton’s crime was deemed to be £496,802. His available assets were said to be £132,416 and he has six months to pay the sum or face a further two years in prison.
At his sentencing in February, the court heard he spent huge sums on a secret lover, luxury cars, a box at Leeds United, designer clothes, handbags and model railways over an 18-month period.
The married father went on to a dating website pretending to be single and met make-up artist and part-time model Victoria Louise Fraenzel.
He paid £800 a month for a luxury flat for her to live in, bought her a Mercedes, gave her £8,000 in cash, lingerie from Ann Summers and clothes from Harvey Nichols.
She had no idea Upton had a wife called and only found out when she rang his business in Wakefield and was put in touch with Mrs Upton.