Gerald Smith has today, at Inner London Crown Court, been ordered to pay nearly £41 million by way of confiscation and given 12 months to pay. He is currently serving eight years' imprisonment handed down in September 2006 after he admitted he had misappropriated funds belonging to Izodia plc.
A default sentence of eight years' imprisonment will apply (consecutively to the original sentence) upon non-compliance with the confiscation order.
The confiscation order is £40,956,911. It is the largest order to be made in criminal proceedings.
Compensation orders were made, to be paid out of the confiscated funds. They were made in favour of Izodia Plc in the sum of £5,288,119 and the Royal Bank of Scotland International, Jersey in the sum of £21,350,000.
Izodia was a company trading in computer software, a 'dot-com' company. When the dot-com bubble burst, Izodia did little trading but became a cash shell. Dr Gerald Smith, through his Jersey-based property business, the Orb Group, acquired a substantial stake in Izodia and was able to exert control. As a result, Izodia's cash asset held at the Reading branch of Royal Bank of Scotland was moved to Jersey where it was stolen by Smith.
The conviction and sentencing were announced by press release on 24 April 2006 and 11 September 2006 respectively. See www.sfo.gov.uk
The restraint and confiscation investigation was jointly conducted with the Asset Recovery Agency and Thames Valley Police. Thames Valley Police also worked with the SFO throughout the original criminal investigation that resulted in the conviction.
Notes for editors:
The Serious Fraud Office is a government department responsible for investigating and prosecuting serious and complex fraud. The SFO is headed by the Director (Robert Wardle) who exercises powers under the superintendence of the Attorney General. These powers are derived from the Criminal Justice Act (1987).
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