A fraudster who was caught with a “glittering Aladdin’s cave” of gold and silver bullion in his luxury flat has been told to hand over £170,000 of his ill-gotten gains.
A Maserati sports car was also seized in the raid on credit card scammer Szymon Lam’s penthouse flat in Leeds city centre.
The Polish national was jailed for three years in July last year after pleading guilty to money laundering offences.
Lam siphoned off the proceeds of his £128,000 deception into off-shore bank accounts and used it to buy property in Germany.
West Yorkshire Police officers searched Lam’s home at the Santorini flats beside the river Aire in September 2010 after receiving a tip-off from colleagues in London.
Lam was returned to Leeds Crown Court to laundering offences. Lam siphoned off the proceeds of his £128,000 deception into off-shore bank accounts and used it to buy property in Germany.
West Yorkshire Police officers searched Lam’s home at the Santorini flats beside the river Aire in September 2010 after receiving a tip-off from colleagues in London. Lam was returned to Leeds Crown Court yesterday to face a hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The court heard Lam had generated £186,367.99 through criminal enterprise. His available assets were valued at £178,851.86.
He was ordered to repay the amount within a month or face a further two years and four months added to his sentence.
Det Sgt Tom Walsh, of the Leeds District Proceeds of Crime Team, said: “Our investigation uncovered a wealth of evidence which showed that Szymon Lam was living a lifestyle way beyond his legitimate means and one which therefore could only have been funded by crime.
“This case again demonstrates the value of the Proceeds of Crime Act which helps us ensure that crime does not pay.”
Officers made the discovery at his flat as part of an investigation by the Metropolitan Police in which details of 600 credit cards had been stolen and used as part of large scale fraud.
This started a major money laundering investigation by West Yorkshire Police officers.
Officers in Leeds were asked to go to the flat after Lam’s
wife had been detained at the Chelsea Bridge Hotel after a form was completed with a false address. Police went to her room and found a laptop containing high volumes of credit card numbers.
Another laptop containing credit card details was also found in Leeds.
The court heard Lam and his wife were highly intelligent, financially astute and had 21 bank accounts.
After his arrest Lam told police he had come to the UK eight years previously with just £500 in his pocket and was now worth £250,000.