Scotland Yard today released photographs and details of nine criminals who are on the run owing a total of £2.5 million in confiscation orders issued by the courts.
They were convicted and jailed but disappeared on their release. Some are believed to have fled abroad but others are suspected of hiding in Britain.
They include a sophisticated counterfeiter who once ran Britain’s biggest DVD piracy ring. Another is a notorious fraudster who uses false identities and has a history of offences.
They are among about 100 criminals wanted by the Met. Around 31 of these are believed to be abroad where police face limits on reaching them or their money. About 14 are believed to have absconded from prison.
The criminals are being hunted by the Met’s specialist Asset Confiscation Enforcement team. In the last two years the unit has arrested 107 people who have paid up nearly a £1 million.
Head of the team, Detective Superintendent Janice McClean, said: “In these times of economic hardship I think it is particularly important that the public have confidence that police are taking action against those who acquire their wealth through crime. These are the unseen financiers behind violent and acquisitive crime in London.”
It is the first time that Scotland Yard has released details of criminals wanted for failing to pay confiscation orders.
Among them is South African Oscar Tesnear, 61, who was jailed for 33 months in 2005 after he duped Greenwich council and the Department of Work and Pensions out of more than £100,000. The court heard how he travelled the world on false passports. Another on the wanted list is a Malaysian counterfeiter.
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