A convicted illegal money lender has been sentenced to almost eight years in prison for failing to pay a confiscation order.
Dharam Prakash Gopee, 70, was originally convicted and sentenced to three and a half years behind bars in 2018 after being found guilty of illegally lending to vulnerable people at high rates.
The court found he had sought to take his victims’ homes when they were unable to repay.
Following Gopee’s conviction at Southwark Crown Court, a confiscation order to deprive him of over £5m of criminal proceeds was made in December 2019.
The judge warned him that he could serve up to 11 years in prison if he failed to pay. He unsuccessfully challenged this and associated orders on over 30 occasions.
In July 2023, he was found to be a vexatious litigant by the Court of Appeal, which issued an order preventing him from making any further civil claims without permission.
The City of London Magistrates’ Court decided on 9 February that Gopee was wilfully refusing to cooperate with the confiscation order and that imprisonment was the only appropriate option to enforce the confiscation.
The Financial Conduct Authority said it welcomed the custodial sentence on Gopee.
The regulator brought the case against Gopee in 2016 as part of a clampdown on illegal payday lenders.
Steve Smart, Joint Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said:
“Confiscation proceedings are a key tool in our work to ensure those who take advantage of the vulnerable do not succeed in their criminal efforts at self-enrichment.
“We welcome the Court’s decision to impose a significant further custodial sentence on Mr Gopee sending a clear message that non-payment is a serious matter and that the Courts will use all appropriate tools to enforce these orders.”
The FCA said the sentence is designed to encourage payment and will be reduced if Gopee pays towards his confiscation order. Even after his imprisonment, Gopee will continue to be liable for the outstanding debt.
