A notorious brothel keeper called Madam Moneybags went to her grave owing the Scottish Courts £780,441, it has been revealed.
Edinburgh pimp, Margaret Paterson, had paid back just £219,559 of her ill-gotten gains when she died aged 66 in September 2019. In 2013, she was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted for brothel-keeping, money laundering and living on the earnings of prostitution.
Prosecutors are now trying to recover the money from her estate. She is one of a group of wealthy criminals who have been targeted under dirty money laws for failing to hand over £12 million of their dirty cash. Fraudsters, drug dealers and money launderers still owe cash years after confiscation orders were imposed on them by courts.
Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) figures released under freedom of information laws show that there is £11,917,697 outstanding in confiscation orders imposed under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Almost £5 million is owed by just 10 people.
Money recovered through criminal enterprises is invested in community projects across Scotland.
While Paterson is one of the largest debtors, other Scottish crooks also owe staggering amounts of money.
Aberdeen pharmacist Conrad Chau, who was jailed for VAT fraud and forging prescriptions, was ordered to pay back £432,000 in July 2017 but has so far stumped up only £100,065.
Chau, 57, altered prescriptions to get pharmaceutical firms to send him more drugs at a discounted price so he could sell them on to other companies at a profit.
He was jailed for 20 months in 2016 at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
No payments have been made for a £379,247 confiscation order imposed on Ian Brash, a crooked architect who embezzled more than £350,000 from a student charity.
Brash used the stolen cash to buy himself a new Alfa Romeo, two Land Rovers and a wind turbine for use on land he owned in East Lothian.
He also invested the money in shares, using the profit to make mortgage and credit card payments and to pay vet bills.
Brash, 70, admitted taking £358,832 from the Dr Robert Malcolm Trust between 2010 and 2014 after he was appointed sole trustee of the charity, which provides financial assistance to British medical students and doctors.
Scottish Conservative community safety spokesman Russell Findlay MSP said: “When proceeds of crime law was passed two decades ago, we were told it would bankrupt Scotland’s gangsters and their white collar enablers.
“The reality is that only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions generated in Scotland’s parallel economy of drugs, human trafficking and other crime is ever recovered.
“Parasites who amass fortunes from preying on our most vulnerable know their dirty fortunes are safe and even when a confiscation order is secured, they have become little more than organised crime IOUs.”
Others who owe money included drug dealer Graham McCulloch, 41, who has not handed over a penny of a £409,613 confiscation order handed down to him in August last year. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for smuggling cocaine into Scotland.
An SCTS spokesman said: “By its nature a confiscation order is a financial penalty that may take some time to recover in full.
“Where a confiscation order has been made by the court following conviction, the enforcement process is directed by the court.
“The period within which financial penalties should be paid is a matter for the judiciary.
“If an offender defaults in the payment of a confiscation order he or she may be called back before the court for further consideration of the payment terms, at which time any further enforcement procedure will be considered. This may include, for example, the appointment of an administrator who will assist in the ingathering and management of realisable property.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government is not involved in the operational delivery of recovery of confiscation orders. This is a matter for the independent Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS).
“Payment of confiscation orders are supervised by the court which imposed the order. Payment can take time, due to factors such as the amount owed and the realisation of assets.
“Where a payment is not made within the given timeframe, the court will consider further enforcement to recover the outstanding balance.”
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