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Man Must Pay £460,000 Over Amazon DVD Fraud

Man Must Pay £460,000 Over Amazon DVD Fraud

A 37-year-old man convicted of a counterfeit DVD scam on Amazon must repay hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Nigel Bennetto, who has been sentenced to an 18-month suspended prison sentence after previously admitting fraud, was found to have set up seller accounts on Amazon using false company details in order to hide his identity.

Bennetto, from Thirsk, was ordered to repay £464,838 at Teesside Crown Court under the Proceeds of Crime Act or face a three-year prison term in addition to the existing sentence.

He was initially arrested in January 2013 by North Yorkshire Police's Financial Investigation Unit on suspicion of money laundering and offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994.

During a search of his home, thousands of DVDs - all thought to be counterfeit - were recovered.

He admitted hiring telephone lines from another company to avoid giving away his own number.

Bennetto also used several computers and BT Home Hubs to create each seller account with a different IP address.

Between July 2012 and May 2013, Bennetto set up and operated six Amazon seller accounts which were used to sell counterfeit DVDs imported from China.

Acting Detective Inspector Jonathan Rowland, of North Yorkshire Police, said: "I am very pleased with the outcome of this investigation, with the court recognising the significant financial gain made by Nigel Bennetto as a result of his fraudulent activities.

"The financial investigator in this case deserves a great deal of credit, both in proving fraud had occurred and identifying just how much money had been made by Bennetto.

"The Proceeds of Crime Act is a powerful piece of legislation and North Yorkshire Police's Financial Investigation Unit will use it at every opportunity to ensure that people convicted of crime do not keep what they have made through their offending."