A HAUL of luxury items have been seized by police as part of a financial investigation after the owner pocketed £6 million in tax evasion.

Stanley Leslie Miller, who was jailed earlier this year after he was found guilty of four counts of tax evasion, has lost cases of Cristal Champagne, Rolex watches and designer goods worth more than £237,000 after officers swooped on his Gateshead home.

The Northern Echo:

A team from North East Regional Asset Recovery Team (NE RART) began investigating Miller shortly after his conviction on February 1, which followed a lengthy tax fraud investigation by HM Revenue and Customs.

A search of the 58-year-old’s home in Lane head, Ryton, led to the seizure of 53 lavish items ranging from state-of-the-art electricals to expensive sports equipment under the powers of the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The Northern Echo:

They have now been valued by an independent auction house and will not be returned to the convicted fraudster. If he does not consent to the sale, it will be ordered by the courts once a Proceeds of Crime order has been granted against him.

Prior to Miller’s conviction, £3.5 million worth of assets were identified and frozen by officers who subjected him to a financial restraint order.

The conman did try to dupe authorities by attempting to move £50,000 into a Dubai-based account– landing himself with a six month custodial sentence for contempt of court in 2018.

Detective Sergeant Tommy Maughan, from the NE RART, said:

“We know that for some offenders, prison is not much of a deterrent as they can come back to their luxury home and their new car– but not now.

“Our role is to seize anything which has links to their criminal activities and make sure victims of fraud are fully reimbursed.

“Miller has repeatedly shown a blatant disregard for the law and continued to breach restrictions placed on him. He has deliberately tried to hide funds from us so he can continue his luxury lifestyle once released from prison but we are here to put a stop to that and make sure his criminal ways definitely do not pay.”

Miller was sentenced to eight years and three months imprisonment on February 1 for three counts of VAT evasion and one of failing to pay HMRC the required National Insurance and Income Tax deductions between April 2009 and May 2016, to total value of £5,952,418.16.