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Canoe fraudsters to pay £600,000 | Canoe fraudsters to pay £600,000 |
(about 2 hours later) | |
The wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin has offered to return more than half a million pounds of money the couple obtained fraudulently. | |
Lawyers for Anne Darwin said she would pay back £591,838 made from the scam she staged with her husband John, a Proceeds of Crime was told. | |
The pair, from Seaton Carew, Teesside, were jailed after he faked his death to claim life insurance and pension cash. | |
John Darwin agreed to pay a nominal sum of £1, as he has no financial assets. | |
A proceeds of crime hearing to confiscate some of the money started at Leeds Crown Court earlier. | A proceeds of crime hearing to confiscate some of the money started at Leeds Crown Court earlier. |
New life | |
The couple convinced the police, a coroner, financial institutions and even their two sons that John Darwin had drowned while canoeing in the North Sea in 2002. | |
However, he had been hidden away in a flat next door to his wife's home, and they later embarked on a new life in Panama. | However, he had been hidden away in a flat next door to his wife's home, and they later embarked on a new life in Panama. |
The pair were pictured witha property adviser in Panama in 2006 | |
In November 2007 he returned to the UK, telling police he was a missing person with amnesia. | In November 2007 he returned to the UK, telling police he was a missing person with amnesia. |
Darwin, 58, was jailed in July 2008 for six years for deception, while 57-year-old Anne Darwin was jailed for six-and-a-half-years for fraud and money-laundering. | Darwin, 58, was jailed in July 2008 for six years for deception, while 57-year-old Anne Darwin was jailed for six-and-a-half-years for fraud and money-laundering. |
The hearing at Leeds Crown Court was told that the Darwins realisable assets totalled £591,838.25. | |
Prosecutor Jolyon Perks told the Court that the victims were insurance companies Aviva, formerly known as Norwich Union, and AIG, with claims also made on John Darwin's pension and a Department of Work and Pensions payout. | |
This totalled £363,700.01 and the Crown also sought an order under the Proceeds of Crime Act for a further £228,138.24. | |
Mr Perks asked for a year for the money to be repaid. | |
If either fails to repay they could face a three-year jail sentence. | |
Mrs Darwin, appeared in court, but her husband was not present. |