The five were involved either in the distribution of counterfeit clothing or a property investment scam. Some were involved in both.
The ringleader, Gurdip Singh, pictured, was also among a group of six men who had previously committed a £2 million fraud by diverting cash from Sussex University which had been intended for a construction company.
Gurdip Singh, 38, formerly of Spencefield Lane, Evington, Leicester, was jailed for seven-and-half years in February last year for his part in that and other frauds. He also headed up a counterfeit clothing operation which produced thousands of garments with fake designer labels at factories in Leicester and Middlesex.
Singh also persuaded people to invest in a scheme to develop properties in the Middle East and Far East, knowing full well that the scheme had failed.
The hearing at Leicester Crown Court was brought by the Crown Prosecution Service and the East Midlands Regional Asset Recovery Team under the Proceeds of Crime Act. It established that Singh had realisable assets of £16,162.
The judge at the hearing estimated that Gurdip Singh had in fact earned an estimated £5.7m through his crimes, although much of that cash had been spent on a lavish lifestyle or could not be traced. That ‘benefit’ figure effectively becomes a debt which will remain with him for life unless fully repaid.
His brother Dalbir Singh Dyal, 35, of Uppingham Road, Leicester, who had helped to distribute the counterfeit clothing and obtained £50,000 for his brother through a mortgage fraud, was ordered to hand over his realisable assets of £3,120.
Gurchuran Singh Rai, 39, of Lady Margaret Road, Southall, Middlesex, had been convicted of theft of £110,000 from investors in the property scheme. He was told he must surrender assets to the value of £96,000, which is the amount still outstanding for these offences.
Yusuf Daud, 30, of St Mary’s Avenue, Leicester, who had also helped to distribute counterfeit clothing and had admitted avoiding excise duty on consignments of cigarettes and being in possession of controlled drugs without a licence to do so, had already been told at an earlier hearing that he must repay £34,000.
Gurdev ‘Bill’ Singh, 36, of Uppingham Road, Thurnby, the cousin of Gurdip Singh, had been jailed for four years in June last year for allowing his bank accounts to be used by Gurdip to launder cash. The court established that his realisable assets were £275,000.
