London RART in £10M SFO Settlement
London RART in support of a Serious Fraud Office prosecution has obtained a confiscation order for £10M
Carlton Cushnie, former chairman and chief executive of the Versailles Group convicted in 2004 of defrauding investors in Versailles Traders Ltd/Trading Partners Ltd, has paid over £10 million in confiscation in one of the highest ever criminal confiscation orders ever satisfied.
Mr Cushnie , a British national, was sentenced on 8 June 2004 at Southwark Crown Court by Justice Jackson to six years imprisonment for conspiring to defraud private investors (`traders') who provided monies to Versailles Traders Ltd (incorporated in the UK) and Trading Partners Ltd (incorporated in the British Virgin Islands). He was also then disqualified from acting as a company director for 10 years.
On 29 June 2005 a confiscation order of £10,140,732.00 was made against him and £10,140,720.00 was received by Her Majesty's Court Service (HMCS) on 9 November 2006.
During this investigation the extent and whereabouts of benefit from crime were traced by SFO investigators with the assistance the London Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART). The order was largely satisfied by the sale of a villa (Villa L'Ecossaise) owned by Mr Cushnie on the outskirts of Saint Tropez.
DI Mark Hewitt Deputy Head of London RART commented:
"This was a particularly difficult case to investigate. It was a wide-ranging and complex investigation with this particular defendant having access to some of the best legal representation money could buy. It is a tribute both to the expertise of SFO investigators and the professionalism of the London RART confiscation investigation that this successful outcome was achieved. London RART remains committed to assisting partner agencies in making the capital a hostile place those who would commit crime for financial gain."