HIDDEN GEMS HOARD FORFEITED TO ASSETS RECOVERY AGENCY

14 Jun 2006 01:45 PM

The Assets Recovery Agency reached a settlement with Ronald David Barry, previously residing at Gerrards Cross, for assets that the Agency contended had been acquired from handling stolen goods, trading in counterfeit items and VAT and tax evasion. Jewellery and watches hidden around Mr Barry's luxury home have already been auctioned on behalf of the Agency raising a net total of £14,300. The house itself has been sold and £507,000 remitted to ARA. £143,000 held in a Gibraltar bank account has been transferred to the Agency. Watches and other jewellery with an estimated value of £33,000 are still to be sold.

Mr Barry was convicted of dishonestly receiving a stolen Rolex Oyster watch at Blackfriars Crown Court on 25 November 2002 and was fined £3,000. A search of Mr Barry's home address by the Metropolitan Police during their investigations in July 2001 uncovered a quantity of jewellery, watches and watch parts and precious stones hidden in various places including drawers in the kitchen, above the oven, in a void in a chest of drawers in the bedroom, under the bed and in the loft. Some of the jewellery and watches had been 'modified' by erasing original markings and/or adding new identification marks. A further search in January 2002 uncovered another haul of jewellery concealed in places such as inside curtains in the bedroom, in a void behind a bidet and inside cereal packets.

The Agency was granted an Interim Receiving Order on 3 October 2003. The Interim Receiver conducted an independent investigation into the assets held by Mr Barry and his wife, Anita Barry. As part of that investigation, Mr Barry's home was searched and a large amount of jewellery and some fake 'luxury' watches were seized. During that search, a copy of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 was found in Mr Barry's bedside cabinet.

The Interim Receiver concluded that Mr Barry, who operated his jewellery business on a cash basis with scant business records, had acquired assets that were, on the balance of probabilities, acquired through unlawful activity. The respondents, on receiving the Interim Receivers report in February 2004, indicated that they were prepared to come to a settlement. This turned out to be a protracted process as the respondents changed their solicitors part way through the proceedings and also had difficulty in obtaining legal funding.

Jane Earl, Director of the Agency said "This case illustrates how our powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act can be used to ensure that crime will not pay. It has taken some time to come to fruition and we have learned valuable lessons about what tactics our respondents might employ to delay proceedings."

Notes for Editors:

1. We are not releasing the address of Mr Barry's former home to protect the privacy of the new owner.

2. The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 created the Assets Recovery Agency which went operational in February 2003, and provided completely new powers to allow ARA to seek civil recovery of the proceeds of unlawful activity by an action in the High Court. The Agency can also issue tax assessments where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that there is taxable income, gain or profit from criminal conduct.

3. The Agency is playing its part in the multi-agency approach to deliver the Government's Asset Recovery Strategy. Under the cross government initiative 'Payback', the tracing of and recovery of assets is seen as an important element in the delivery of justice, and sends out a strong deterrent message. The overall aims of the strategy are to make greater use of the investigations of criminal assets in the fight against crime; recover money that has been made from crime or which is intended for use in crime; prevent criminals and their associates from laundering the proceeds of criminal conduct, and detect and penalise such laundering where it occurs; to use the proceeds recovered for the benefit of the community.

Assets Recovery Agency, PO Box 39992
London EC4M 7XQ

T +44 (020) 7029 5700
F +44 (020) 7029 5706
E enquiries@ara.gsi.gov.uk www.assetsrecovery.gov.uk