Derbyshire CPS secures second highest ever confiscation order
12/04/2007
Derbyshire Crown Prosecution Service has today successfully applied to confiscate £567,000 from a conman who stole from around 200 elderly and vulnerable victims.
At the confiscation hearing at Derby Crown Court, Conrad Byatt was ordered to pay back the money within six months. If he fails to do so he will have to serve a further three years and eight months imprisonment.
Speaking after the hearing Jon Wood, Senior Crown Prosecutor at Derbyshire Crown Prosecution Service and the Proceeds of Crime Champion for Derbyshire said: "This is by far one of the biggest confiscation orders ever obtained by Derbyshire CPS.
"Conrad Byatt is a manipulative and calculating conman who, over a five year period, deliberately singled out his elderly, infirm victims knowing that they would be easy targets.
"The addresses of his victims, ranging from Derbyshire to Devon to Kent, demonstrate that Byatt was prepared to travel all over country in his pursuit of suitable victims. The extent of his criminal activities is reflected in the fact that as well as the 19 charges he faced in court, he asked for a further 190 offences to be taken into consideration.
"In cases such as this the law enables us to hit criminals hard twice over once with a prison sentence and then again by confiscating the proceeds of their crime. For some time Byatt was able to live a lavish and extravagant lifestyle. Now not only is he experiencing a very different way of life behind bars, but we can also confiscate his illegally acquired assets to ensure that once released he will no longer benefit financially from his crimes."
On 24 April 2006 at Derby Crown Court Conrad Byatt pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining a money transfer by deception, one charge of attempting to obtain a money transfer by deception, seven charges of transferring criminal property and a further seven charges of removing criminal property from England and Wales. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment.