Convicted Bath money launderer ordered to pay £200k compensation
Sanketkumar Patel impersonated a college.
A convicted money launderer who impersonated Prior Park college in Bath, has been ordered to pay £213,000 in compensation.
38 year old Sanketkumar Patel of Eden Hall Close, Leicester scammed a number of foreign nationals by pretending to be the real Prior Park College, with some of the students being deported as a result.
Bath & North East Somerset Councillor Tim Ball, cabinet member for Planning and Licensing, said: “This was a despicable crime to remove hard-earned money from vulnerable people, so I am very pleased that one of the individuals behind the money laundering has been made to compensate for his offences.
"We will not tolerate scams and frauds and our trading standards team work tirelessly to tackle these serious crimes. Thank you to our partners who helped us bring this successful prosecution to court.”
The fake college sold places on its business studies course which allowed foreign nationals to apply for visas to study in the UK. Each individual lost between £4,500 and £6,500 in course fees.
On the 27th April Mr Patel was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment suspended for two years for two money laundering offences contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Although Patel lives in Leicester he ran a money transfer business known as Jay Ambe Trading in Wembley through which the proceeds of crime were laundered.
Bath & North East Somerset Council trading standards were assisted in this by CPS, B&NES Legal Services, Kent Police, Trading Standards South West Regional Enforcement Team, North Somerset Trading Standards, Gloucester County Council Trading Standards and many others.