Gangmaster faces charges on assets

A GANGMASTER who ran a £1.5 million criminal business while posing as a shopkeeper is to face new criminal proceedings.

Kuldip Singh has been ordered to pay back £314,000 after he raked in £1.5 million by supplying migrant workers to three horticultural firms in the East Riding without a licence.

Now, Singh, who runs the Village Shoppe in Sutton and not the Village Convenience Store and Post Office as reported in yesterday's Mail, is facing new charges under the Contempt Of Court Act.

Hull Crown Court heard he tried to pass on his Sutton business to his paperboy, sold six cars and tried to transfer land worth almost £250,00 in India into his wife's name despite an order in 2008 banning him from selling his assets.

IS YOUR CAR KEY BENT ? REMOTE FOB NOT WORKING ? LOST CAR KEYS ?...

Peace Of Mind Security Hull Ltd/Hull Car Keys

View details

Print voucher

FOR ALL YOUR CAR KEY NEEDS CALL US NOW ON
01482 423414
SNAPPED KEYS, LOST KEYS, KEYS LOCKED IN VEHICLES,
EXTRA KEYS
WE ALSO REPAIR 90% OF ALL REMOTES AND KEYS, NO FIX NO CHARGE.

Terms: Terms: FREE REMOTE KEY FOB BATTERY ONE PER CUSTOMER
SAVE £3.00 WITH THIS FREE BATTERY
Contact: 01482 423414

Contact: 01482 423414

Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013

Prosecutor Edward Bindloss said: "There is evidence that there were four breaches of this order."

Singh will now be ordered to return to court in February to face proceedings for breaches of the order and contempt of court.

Under the Proceeds Of Crime Act, Singh has been ordered to sell his business, his family land and six cars to pay back the money he has made through his criminal activity.

Judge Jeremy Richardson QC ruled Singh benefited through his illegal activities by £1,562,970, but had just £314,138 in assets.

Singh, 48, of Rivelin Park, Kingswood, has been given six months to pay the money or face three-and-a-half years in prison in default.

Singh had claimed his land in India was only worth £7,000, but inquiries to the British High Commission confirmed the land was worth almost £250,000.

He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, suspended for two years, in 2009 after he pleaded guilty to offences under the Gangmaster Licensing Act.

In yesterday's Mail, we incorrectly reported that Singh ran the Village Convenience Store and Post Office in Sutton. We would like to make clear that this is not the case and that he has no connection with that business, nor has he ever been a postmaster in Sutton.

We apologise for any misunderstanding and distress caused.