Fraudster was also in clothes con
AN UNSCRUPULOUS former chip shop owner who defrauded builders out of thousands of pounds he owed them for work is also being chased by Trading Standards officers over a fake goods scam, it has emerged.
Niyazi Ersin (32) and his partner Joanna Smith (30) were convicted last month of conning businesses by not paying them for work they had carried out on a property called Hollyhurst, in Dunton Bassett.
But at a sentencing hearing at Leicester Crown Court on Friday, it was revealed that Ersin is also the subject of a proceeds of crime application by Northamptonshire Trading Standards.
Ersin, who used to own the Caspian chippy, on The Square, was convicted following a trial at Daventry Magistrates' Court in July 2008 of possessing with intent to sell counterfeit clothing.
He had been stopped in Northampton in February 2007 by a police officer who found three holdalls in the boot of his car containing 145 items of counterfeit designer clothing as well as business cards headed "Handbags and Gladrags".
Northants Trading Standards conducted a proceeds of crime application in a bid to confiscate earnings made by Ersin through the sale of the counterfeit goods.
The court heard on Friday how sentencing would be adjourned to allow for independent valuation of the property in Dunton Bassett.
This will determine the amount of compensation which can be paid to builders left out of pocket by the Hollyhurst scam as well as money to be confiscated as proceeds of crime, the court heard.
Ersin and Smith, who at previous court hearings gave their respective addresses as Skippon Close, Harborough, and Lutterworth Road, Dunton Bassett, were released on bail and will appear at Leicester Crown Court for sentencing tomorrow (Friday).
The pair pleaded guilty in July to 12 counts of obtaining services dishonestly in relation to unpaid building work carried out at the Dunton Bassett property between January 2007 and April 2009.
The court heard last Friday that as many as 14 builders, tradesmen and construction firms are owed money.
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Monday 21 May 2012
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