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| Brothel millionaire to lose her home |
| By menmedia.co.uk |
| Published: 05/23/2011 |
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A woman who made more than £1m running brothels is set to lose her home – or be sent back to jail. Marcia Howard was jailed for keeping two brothels between 2004 and 2007 and laundering the proceeds. Now, after being released early from prison, the 68-year-old has been ordered to sell her home and car by authorities seizing her assets. At the Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Manchester Crown Court, it emerged Ms Howard made a total of £1,002,987.81 from the two ‘Hayley’s’ massage parlours she owned in Burnage and Whitefield. The authorities now hope to get back almost £200,000 – around twenty per cent of her total benefit – in ‘realisable assets’. Her two bank accounts have now been frozen and she has until November to sell her Audi and her £220,000 home at Alberbury Avenue, Timperley. She can be sent back to jail for two-and-a-half years if she fails to hand over the cash within six months. Last year, Ms Howard tried to get the charges thrown out before eventually pleading guilty. She argued that her premises and clients were ‘respectable’ and said she had always paid tax and national insurance. Ms Howard told court that she had traded openly for years with the tolerance of the police. But Judge David Hernandez threw out her argument that the prosecution was an ‘abuse of process’ and said she must have known the risks of the trade. Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, it is a crime to keep, manage, or help in the management of a brothel. Her business partner, Robert Taun, 50, of Fieldings Wharf, Droylsden, was jailed for brothel keeping and money laundering and is still serving his twelve-month sentence. Read More. |
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