‘Silly boy’ ordered to pay back ill-gotten gains

A man who told police ‘I’ve been a silly boy’ after being arrested for money laundering and tax evasion will hand over a property worth six figures after agreeing to a Consent Order to recover the proceeds of crime.

Christopher Edwards, 72, of Abergavenny in Wales was given the Civil Recovery Order during a hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice today.

Edwards first came to the attention of law enforcement in 2009, when police attended a burglary in progress and found that a van belonging to Edwards contained contraband including cigarettes and alcohol.

40,000 cigarettes were recovered and Edwards admitted money laundering and tax evasion, proving that he had an unlawful source of income.
Investigations showed that Edwards had had no legitimate source of income except disability allowance since 2008 and had not filed a self-assessment tax return or any PAYE records to HMRC since 1991.

In 2017, Edwards was under investigation again by HMRC, when a search of his vehicle by HMRC officers uncovered 97,200 cigarettes, 2 carrier bags containing cigarettes, and £12,480 in cash which was seized. HMRC confiscated this cash as money made from unlawful conduct in 2018.

While under investigation in 2018 Edwards transferred £150,000 to Thailand despite having no legitimate income at the time. He then fled to Thailand in May 2019.

Edwards eventually returned to the UK in June 2021 when he was arrested in relation to his black-market offences. On 3 September 2021 Edwards pleaded guilty to tax evasion. He was sentenced to a Community Order with 6 months’ Rehabilitation Activity.

Over the years, Edwards had repeatedly purchased properties in the names of friends and family, without a mortgage, before these properties were transferred to himself, or sold and the proceeds gifted to Edwards.

This includes a property he currently owns. Now he has lost it, as it will be sold and the proceeds paid to the government, along with the balance of his bank account, which is estimated to be over £300,000.

Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor of the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division, said: “The CPS is committed to depriving criminals of their ill-gotten gains and will use our civil recovery powers to do so even where no criminal confiscation proceedings have been sought.”

“Edwards was clearly making money from unlawful conduct, and we have been able to use alternative routes to recover around £850,000 ensuring that his criminal activity does not pay.”