Conman Mark Acklom challenges court bid to seize his assets after romance scam

Published

10 months ago

January 15, 2024

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Conman Mark Acklom is challenging a bid to seize his assets, five years after he was jailed for a notorious romance scam.

His lawyer told a judge that another man had admitted “pilfering” money from the victim, so it was difficult to know how much Acklom got.

Acklom, 50, was jailed for defrauding divorcee Carolyn Woods of £300,000 after wooing her and promising to marry her in Gloucestershire.

He used a false name and convinced her he was a wealthy banker and MI6 agent, before going on the run.

After being extradited from Switzerland in 2019, he admitted five charges, but had originally faced 20 charges that amounted to the theft of £750,000.

The Crown Prosecution Service now wants a court to establish exactly how much Acklom benefited from his crimes against Ms Woods – and what he has left – so it can try to confiscate his assets.

Prosecutors believe Acklom, who was first jailed for fraud when he was 18, has profited by £1.3m in his whole criminal career, in which he has been jailed in several countries.

His lawyer Martin Sharpe said prosecutors had abused the current confiscation process under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) by not disclosing certain documents to the defence.

Mr Sharpe told a court in Bristol: “Paul Kaur is somebody who made admissions in interview [with police] that he had pilfered money from the complainant [Ms Woods].

“Part of the prosecution case was that the money Mr Acklom took from the complainant he channelled into Paul Kaur’s account.”

Mr Sharpe said: “In order to assess the benefit to Mr Acklom we need to find out how much money he [Kaur] took.”

The lawyer said he didn’t know how much money Mr Kaur took because he hadn’t spoken to him and “because he wouldn’t co-operate”. He said he did not know how to contact Mr Kaur.

Mr Kaur, a businessman, told Sky News last year that he had worked for Acklom and, like Ms Woods, had been duped by him. He was never charged by police.

The bid to establish Acklom’s benefit from the scam on Ms Woods began, effectively, from the day he was jailed and there have been several court hearings.

The latest is being held in front of Judge Martin Picton, who sentenced Acklom and told him at the time that he had acted in a “ruthless and utterly selfish manner”.

The court was today told Acklom had been freed from a Spanish jail last year, after being extradited at the end of his UK sentence.

He was subject to a Spanish confiscation order of €374,000 (£321,000). His lawyer didn’t know whether he had paid it.

Acklom was not in court in Bristol, and is living in Spain with his family and likely to become a Spanish citizen. His wife is Spanish.

Judge Picton said the hearings have “gone on for a bit now, to put it mildly”, and said that, so far, he has not “heard a word from Mr Acklom”.

He added: “It leaves me utterly bemused that we spend a lot of time, here today, tomorrow and another four days later establishing a [monetary] figure that has beyond even an outside chance of ever being recovered from a person living outside the jurisdiction.”

Acklom’s lawyer described the law around confiscation as “a confused landscape”.

The hearing was adjourned for the day after the judge suggested lawyers from the two sides could discuss a possible agreement before coming back to court on Tuesday.

Judge Picton is expected to make a final decision on a confiscation order in April.

Paul Kaur has been asked for a response.

UK

Teenage girl killed on M5 in Somerset after getting out of police car named

Published

3 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Teenage girl killed on M5 in Somerset after getting out of police car named

A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.

Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.

She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.

A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.

Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.

“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.

“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”

The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.

In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.

“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”

Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.

UK

Mohamed al Fayed’s brother Salah also abused women, say female Harrods employees

Published

3 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Mohamed al Fayed's brother Salah also abused women, say female Harrods employees

A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.

Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.

The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.

One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.

Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.

Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.

The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”

The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.

Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.

The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.

A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.

“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”

The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.

One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.

Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.

UK

Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman

Published

3 hours ago

November 15, 2024

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Wes Streeting 'crossed the line' by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman

Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.

Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.

MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.

But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.

He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.

Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.

👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈

“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.

“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.

“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.

“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”

Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.

She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.

“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.

The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.

Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.

The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.

MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.