A rogue builder has been ordered to pay back more than £68,000 to victims of his crimes, following action by Enfield Council.
The order was made on 30 November 2020 by Judge Benson at Wood Green Crown Court that Kiamil Alkan pay back the money or face an additional year in prison.
Alkan, 40, is currently part-way through a prison sentence of 4 years and 3 months that was imposed after a joint investigation by Enfield Trading Standards Team and the Insolvency Service.
The teams established that he had operated as a rogue builder who took on contracts for extensions and loft conversions he did not complete and pressured victims into handing over large sums of money in advance of commencing any work.
He was originally convicted at Wood Green Crown Court on 14 counts in February 2019. Enfield’s Trading Standards Legal teams had built a case against Alkan over a long period of time and worked closely with his victims to bring the charges against him.
Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Licensing and Regulatory Services, Cllr George Savva, said: “This case demonstrates that Enfield Council is committed to protect the interests of its residents. We will use every statutory power available to us to help victims. Enfield Council’s investigators, legal team and its partners will relentlessly pursue those in our communities who engage in illegal activities and recover the proceeds of their crimes. We hope this will provide some solace to those who have been financially scarred by rogue traders.”
This latest Court action is the result of a Council investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act, involving a joint exercise between the Council’s Counter Fraud, Legal Services and Trading Standards teams. The investigation was complicated by the fact that Alkan was declared bankrupt in 2017, prior to which he had transferred property out of his own name.
The Court heard that the sum of £68,090 represents the total sum of Alkan’s remaining financial assets, and although this amount will not fully compensate Alkan’s victims, it would not have been secured had it not been for the action pursued by the Council.