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Fraudster ordered to pay back £23,000
# 27 June 2011, 05:26 by Chris T
A fraudster will have to pay Virgin Media more than £23,000 after being found guilty of modifying set top boxes so users could get cable TV without paying for it.
Blackburn Magistrates ordered Imran Khansia, 30, of Livingstone Road, Blackburn, to forfeit £23,390 at a proceeds of crime hearing.
The cash is already in the hands of the authorities – it was seized in April 2008 when Khansia, along with three other men, was arrested in a police raid that netted around 200 modified, or ‘chipped’ set-top boxes, along with cash, computers and documents.
Khansia began a six-year jail term for his part in the operation following has conviction in May 2010.
Financial investigator Sergeant Andy Ellis said: “Decent law abiding people should not have to tolerate criminals enjoying a standard of living that they are not entitled to. More often than not, that lifestyle has been achieved at someone else’s expense.
“We will continue to target those who seek to profit through crime. It is important that people tell us about the individuals that they know are committing crime and living off the proceeds.”