Operation Alarm

The second phase of the Operation Alarm investigation conducted by the North East Regional Asset Recovery Team was successfully concluded December 2008 when Hull Crown Court found David Burdett of Barrow Lane, Hessle and Colin Smith of Beech Avenue, Anlaby had benefited by over £640,000.  Confiscation orders were made in respect of both men; Burdett in the sum of £40,000 and Smith in the sum of £50,000; both were given 6 months to pay or face default prison sentences. 

Smith and Burdett were found guilty of laundering the proceeds of a scam which involved selling air purifiers, de-humidifer units and service contracts to elderly and vulnerable people at vastly inflated prices. One victim handed over cheques to the salesman to the value of £40,000.

Smith and Burdett claimed that they were given the cheques by a man who they met in a supermarket car park and lay-bys; they then banked the cheques through their accounts and handed the cash to the same man a few days later.

When sentencing, Recorder Paul Watson QC accurately summed up the part Burdett and Smith played in these crimes saying:

“Over a period of just more that two years each of you were supplementing your incomes by cashing cheques on behalf of a serious criminal.  As it happened, that man was obtaining those cheques by tricking and intimidating elderly and vulnerable people.  Of course, I don’t sentence you for that, but by turning a blind eye to the origin of that money you enabled him to cash in on the proceeds of his vile crimes.  It goes without saying that without people like you, prepared to lauder the proceeds of crime the work of serious criminals would not be possible.  You didn’t care where it came from as long as you could line your pockets.  You each have protested your stupidity and naivety throughout the trial and the jury has seen through that sham.  It has all caught up with you with the verdict of the jury.  Your lies and hypocrisy have been exposed”

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Waite of NE RART said: "The victims were preyed upon and exploited by the criminals who took advantage of the fact that they were all elderly and vulnerable.  This is an excellent result which highlights what can be achieved by partnership working and maximising the opportunity presented by the Proceeds of Crime Act legislation to ensure that the criminals do not benefit from their despicable crimes.  The defendants in this case were not the frontline offenders but they performed an integral function and without their contribution the cheques could not have been converted into cash”.