Training contract fraudsters made to repay another £140,000

Two men who were convicted of rigging contracts operated through the Shropshire Learning Skills Council more than a decade ago are being made to repay another £140,000.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has secured increased confiscation orders against Silinder Singh Sidhu and Paul Kent, two men convicted in 2010.

The increases come after the SFO identified an additional £140,000 of assets that the fraudsters have now both been ordered to hand over to repay their ill-gotten gains.

Under Section 22 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the SFO has the power to continue investigations into the assets of criminals after their conviction and to increase the amount seized when it identifies additional assets.

The SFO secured convictions against Sidhu and Kent for corruptly awarding contracts worth over £1.3m to local training providers, receiving almost half a million pounds in corrupt payments and financially benefiting between them to the tune of over £467,000.

The fraudsters used this money to fund lavish lifestyles, buying expensive cars, watches and taking luxurious holidays at the taxpayers’ expense.

The men conducted their fraud through positions they held with the Shropshire Learning Skills Council (SLSC), established by Parliament in April 2001 to improve the skills of young people and adults not in university education by planning and funding high quality education and training.

Kent began his fraud in 2003 after securing a position on the SLSC with a fraudulent CV, recruiting Sidhu to his fraud a year later.

As a director of SLSC, Kent would solicit bribes for the award of contracts. Sidhu, once an employee of SLSC, later became a services provider through his company SLK Marketing Ltd.

In this capacity, he received over £266,000 from the SLSC and paid Kent just over £80,000 in corrupt payments.

In April 2010, Kent admitted to 11 counts of receiving corrupt payments and to gaining a monetary advantage by deception.

He was jailed for four and half years and paid £3240 in confiscation.

Sidhu pleaded guilty in May 2010 to two counts of corruption.

He was found guilty of two further counts of corruption after a two-week trial later that month and received a three-year jail sentence and paid more than £31,500 in confiscation.
An SFO review into the proceeds of their crimes has since identified substantial additional assets to be recovered from Sidhu and Kent.

The SFO has secured more than £111,000 from Kent and over £27,000 from Sidhu. Sidhu has fully paid the increased available amount of his confiscation order.

Lisa Osofsky, director of the SFO, said: “These men defrauded the UK taxpayer and undermined the integrity of a programme designed to improve the life prospects of young people and adults from across Shropshire.

“We do not allow such criminals to enjoy the benefits of their crimes, and are pleased to have recovered their assets for the public purse.”

Both confiscation orders were fully paid by the fraudsters.

The extra money recovered will be paid to the Treasury.