The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has secured the right to take future earnings from a Fife man who embezzled £225,000 from his clients.
Stuart Snaddon from Leven received a four-year jail sentence at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for fraudulently obtaining £200,000 from one victim and £25,000 from a married couple.
The court heard Snaddon committed the offences while employed as a financial consultant, providing financial advice in respect of pensions, investments and insurance products.
He pretended to invest the funds on his clients’ behalf in an employee investment scheme but pocketed the funds for himself.
Although Snaddon has since paid back the funds he fraudulently took from the married couple, he still has to pay his other victim £158,000 and, during sentencing, a compensation order was imposed to ensure he repays that amount.
COPFS also secured a “nominal” order for £1 to preserve its position, meaning it can bring the case back to court should the remainder of the compensation not be paid.
Lindsey Miller, procurator fiscal for organised crime and counter terrorism, said: “The Crown is dedicated to recovering proceeds of crime wherever possible; however, sometimes an accused simply has no assets with which to pay or it may be more appropriate for them to repay their victims.
“In this case, we use the powers of the Proceeds of Crime Act to ask that their full illegal profit is formally recorded by the court and a nominal order for £1 is made against them. This ensures the Crown can go back to the court should the accused obtain any assets in the future, or fail to repay their victims, and raise the confiscation order up to the total amount they made from their criminal activity.
“It can, in effect, be a financial life sentence, ensuring those who benefited from crime in the past cannot accrue any assets until the money they made is repaid.
“All funds recovered through confiscation will be added to the £88 million already gathered from proceeds of crime, to be re-invested in the community by Scottish ministers through the CashBack for Communities programme.”
cwilson@thecourier.co.uk