Shoebury man forfeits £259,000 after police raid (From Echo)

Shoebury man forfeits £259,000 after police raid

7:20pm Tuesday 9th February 2010 in

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A MAN has been ordered to forfeit more than £250,000 discovered in a police raid.

Kevin Burrage, of Ravendale Way, Shoebury, lost the money because police believe it came from an alcohol wholesale warehouse company which had not been paying duties.

Kent Police found the money hidden in the bottom of a wardrobe of a house in Gravesend in October 2006. Officers believe the address was known to 47-year-old Burrage.

At Central Kent Magistrates’ Court, in Sittingbourne, under the proceeds of crime act, he was ordered to forfeit the £259,910. The owner of the alcohol wholesale company was shown to be a single mother.

Detective Insp Mark Fairhurst from Kent Police’s serious economic crime unit, which mounted the investigation, said: “This was a particularly complicated and testing case and I am pleased the money has been removed from criminal circulation.

“The Proceeds Of Crime Act is a powerful piece of legislation and has been used it to send out the message crime does not pay.”

The cash will be used to support further policing initiatives.