A LUCRATIVE, but illegal money-lending scheme within Chinese business circles has cost its operator a £60,000 confiscation order.

Wai Lun Cheung, 47, was jailed for 38 months at Durham Crown Court, in April, in a prosecution brought by the Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) for England.

The Hong Kong-born British passport holder admitted six counts of illegal money lending and laundering.

Described as a respected figure in the Chinese community in the North-East, Mr Cheung lived above the chop suey house run by his wife, in Bowburn, near Durham.

The court heard he made “significant sums” dealing with a network of borrowers in the Chinese community.

It arose from connections made at casinos on Teesside and in Leeds, which saw him become involved in, and then administering a savings scheme called ‘The Pot’.

Although that did not form part of the case, it was the weekly interest charged to Pot members, plus subsequent personal loans made to them, which breached consumer credit regulations, as an unlicensed money lender.

Cheung was also said to have sent threatening messages to one woman who fell behind with repayments.

It culminated in a raid overseen by the IMLT in which £24,000 and documents were seized, from his Bowburn home, in August 2014.

Since Cheung was sentenced, proceeds of crime inquiries followed by the IMLT.

During a short appearance via a court video link to Holme House Prison, Cheung agreed to the £60,000 confiscation, the “available amount”, from an estimated benefit figure of £393,274.

He faces up to an extra eight months in prison in default of payment within three months.

Simon Mortimer, for the IMLT, said it was made up from the seized cash, two bank accounts, and the sale of a Renault Laguna car.