Business information

£3 Million in assets to be seized from 'unwanted goods' Trader

A Waltham Abbey rogue trader will have over £3 million in assets seized, a Crown Court judge has ruled, following a prosecution brought by Hertfordshire Trading Standards.

The confiscation order comes on top of a three-month custodial sentence handed out by St Albans Crown Court earlier this month (May 11) for offences under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act and Trade Descriptions Act.

David Jones, who traded in Waltham Cross under the business name of Datacom, had pleaded guilty to seven charges of demanding payment for unsolicited goods and a further charge of threatening court action for non-payment.

The court heard that staff at Jones' telesales business used scripts to cold call businesses and persuade them to buy printer cartridges. These businesses were then sent further cartridges and paper that they had not ordered - and received demands for payment, with rates as high as over £65 per ream (500 sheets) of paper. Businesses that queried the invoices were bullied into paying up.

Jones also pleaded guilty to two counts of misdescribing the cartridges with a further six counts taken into consideration. The affected companies were told that the cartridges would last up to nine times as long as a normal printer cartridge

Hertfordshire Trading Standards took action after receiving complaints from businesses all over the country. A raid at Mr Jones's offices brought to light many more cases of companies which had been targeted by Datacom.

Herts Trading Standards worked jointly on the case with the Assets Recovery Agency for two years. Following an initial hearing at Hertford Magistrates Court in July 2006 the case was passed to the Crown Court for sentencing and for a decision on a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) carried out an investigation to determine how much money Jones had made from criminal activities and are leading on the recovery of his assets.

The court certified that the amount of money that Jones had made from his criminal activities was £6,332,889.61.

"This was a superb effort on the part of our Trading Standards officers and the Assets Recovery Agency and all concerned should be congratulated on handling a huge investigation so effectively and successfully," said Keith Emsall, Executive Member for Community Safety and Culture. "The sheer scale of Mr Jones's criminal activities is reflected in the custodial sentence and the confiscation order, which we hope will act as a warning to others who are looking for easy pickings among local businesses.

"There are some valuable lessons from this case. We would advise businesses to make sure they check all their invoices thoroughly before paying them as a matter of routine. If they get cold calls from new suppliers the advice is to make meticulous notes of any conversation and request written details - or just say No."

Alan McQuillan interim Director of ARA said: "This is a tremendous result and demonstrates what can be achieved through sheer determination and professionalism in tracking down the proceeds of crime and ensuring crime does not pay for anyone. This successful partnership approach between the ARA and Hertfordshire Trading Standards is the kind of concerted effort needed to protect our communities and demonstrates to the criminal world that crime does not pay."

The Court also heard that David Jones had been trading in this way for many years. In 1999, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham obtained an injunction to prevent Jones from using these practices in their borough. He then moved his operation to Hertfordshire.

Business people who are unsure where they stand when faced with this kind of situation should contact Herts Trading Standards for advice on their rights and obligations via Consumer Direct on 08454 040506 (textphone 0845 128 1384) or www.consumerdirect.gov.uk. Consumer Direct's hours are 8am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday and 9am to1pm, Saturday. Information is also available on www.hertsdirect.org.

The Assets Recovery Agency aims to disrupt organised criminal enterprises through the recovery of criminal assets, and by promoting the use of financial investigation as an integral part of a criminal investigation. The Agency works in close partnership with law enforcement agencies engaged in the prosecution of offences relating to acquisitive crime and uses its expertise to provide direct support and assistance in connection with a confiscation investigation. For more information contact mike.burrell@ara.gsi.gov.uk