Proceeds of crime prosecutors have accepted an offer of little more than £30,000 from a fake designer goods merchant who made more than a million pounds from flogging bogus bling.
Conroy Lindsay, dubbed "Scotland's King of Bling", was jailed in September 2022 after trading standards officers investigated an advertiser on Gumtree promoting himself as "The Watch Seller". They found his bedroom wardrobe stuffed with luxury watches, sunglasses, clothing and aftershave that would have been worth more than £650,000 if they hadn't been Chinese counterfeits.
The case was then continued for confiscation action under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover financial gains Lindsay made by the bogus goods scheme. On Monday, Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that an agreement had been reached between the Crown and Lindsay's lawyers that the total proceeds of his general criminal conduct had amounted to £1,029,474.
However his only recoverable assets were agreed to be his equity in a house in Dennyloanhead, Stirlingshire and a single -- genuine -- Rolex watch. The court was told that the watch and his share in the domestic property were together worth £31,086.74p -- the so-called "available amount".
Solicitor-advocate Stephen Biggam, defending, said it had been agreed that payment of this amount would bring the confiscation action to an end. He asked for six months for payment.
He said: "Mr Lindsay's currently still serving his prison sentence. He's due to be released soon, when he will be in a position to make the relevant sum available."
Prosecutor Bernadette Cuthbertson said the Crown did not oppose Mr Biggam's motion. Sheriff John MacRitchie made the compensation order for £31,086.74p Lindsay was jailed for 15 months following the probe by Falkirk Council trading standards officers.
After a test purchase revealed the Gumtree advertiser was Lindsay, his home was raided. In his bedroom cupboard, officers found 39 Rolex watches that would have been worth £15,400 each if they'd been real, which Lindsay was selling on Gumtree and Facebook for £140 each.
Many of the Rolexes were "boxed". Watch parts and watchmakers' tools were also found.
Also stuffed in the closet were two "Daniel Wellington watches", four "Hublot watches", an "Omega watch", 29 "Rayban sunglasses", 10 bottles of "Creed Aventus aftershave", 28 "Givenchy t-shirts", a "Givenchy jumper", three "Fendi hoodies", and a pair of "Christian Louboutin trainers".
All the goods were counterfeits. Lindsay also confessed to selling bogus designer goods labelled Louis Vuitton and Tag Heur.
The court heard Lindsay had bought the items over the Internet from Chinese-based fakers for £7430, but if they had been real they would have been worth £650,145. Lindsay, 37, of Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire, pleaded guilty to contravening the 1994 Trade Marks Act by selling watches, wall clocks, aftershave, footwear, clothing and bags with bogus trademarks for nearly two years -- between August 2017 and June 2019 - from bases in Bonnybridge and Falkirk
The court heard he had a previous Trade Marks Act conviction -- for selling counterfeit DVDs. Mr Biggam said had turned to selling fakes "to keep the wolf from the door" after being involved in a road accident in Turkey.
He said the injuries Lindsay sustained had prevented him from carrying on a legitimate business that he had previously run, and profits from the fake trade were to allow his family to remain in their family home. Sheriff Christopher Shead, who imposed the jail term last year, said at the time that Lindsay had been selling goods of counterfeited in China for "exactly the purpose" of affecting the profits of genuine manufacturers.
He said: "It was sustained, and there was a significant value."
After the conclusion of the confiscation hearing on Monday, a court insider said: "Whatever he made, he didn't have much left apparently ."
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