Brian Webb,
the man behind the £9.5m Gwent Fleet Management fraud, only has to
pay back £47,000, it was decided at a court hearing last month.
Webb was jailed for four years last February.
At a Proceeds of Crime Act
hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on 3 December, it was decided that
Webb, 68, would have to pay back just £47,255.
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James Baird, a partner at HBJ
Gateley Wareing LLP, a law firm which acted on behalf of some of
the finance companies defrauded, said: “The amount appears small
given the scale of the fraud, but this is because this is a
confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act, not to be
confused with compensation or damages.
“The sum of £47,255 against
Mr Webb was the amount of money that the court held he had
benefited from personally by undertaking the fraud – and was the
amount obtainable from assets in his name believed to be the
proceeds of that criminal activity.”
Webb was the managing
director of Gwent Fleet Management, which sold and leased cars to
private buyers and companies before being declared insolvent in
2008.
Between December 2004 and
September 2008, Webb sold cars to customers who paid in
cash.
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By GlobalDataHe later forged signatures to
take out finance agreements without their knowledge, meaning he was
effectively paid twice for the cars.
The company enticed customers
with low prices, which Webb claimed he could offer because he
received bonuses from car firms which he could pass on to
customers.
By 2008, Gwent’s bank account was £200,000 overdrawn. Webb
tried to prop up the business using money from his own account,
which was also overdrawn by more than £50,000.
