A Bradford man convicted of mortgage fraud has been ordered to pay back £93,510 under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

Timothy Crompton, 48, of Edge End Road, Buttershaw, has six months to pay the confiscation order or faces a penalty of up to two years in prison. Up to £78,510 of the cash ordered to be paid back was seized from Crompton’s home and the other available assets included a third share in a plot of land off Halifax Road and available equity in the property in Edge End Road.

The orders comes after Crompton’s arrest in 2009 on suspicion of committing fraud by false representation, involving obtaining a mortgage by deception.

During a search of Crompton’s home, tens of thousands of pounds was seized from a cupboard and under the floorboards.

On May 11, 2010, at Bradford Crown Court, Crompton pleaded guilty to obtaining a fraudulent mortgage and concealing criminal property. Confiscation proceedings were instigated.

A judge at Bradford Crown Court has now made the POCA order.

After the hearing, Detective Sergeant, Tim O’Keeffe, of the Bradford South Proceeds of Crime Team, said: “This is an excellent example of the effectiveness of the Proceeds of Crime Act, which can often hurt those who commit crime as much as the sentence for the original offence. Taking away a criminal’s ill-gotten gains sends a clear message that crime does not pay.”

The Proceeds of Crime Act was created in 2002 for the confiscation of proceeds from crime is the principal money laundering law in the UK.