An Eastbourne-based drug dealer, who used a patisserie in the town as a front for money laundering, must repay more than half a million pounds in assets and more than £200,000 cash, acquired through his crimes.
Sussex Police said Agim Toska, 27, of Milton Road, Eastbourne, had operated 'The Pastry Shop' in Seaside Road, Eastbourne, presenting himself as a legitimate local business owner.
But local detectives were investigating him and several associates — leading to his arrest in July 2018.
He was later convicted of being concerned in the supply of controlled drugs of cocaine and cannabis, and money laundering.
Lewes Crown Court sentenced him to nine years and seven months in jail, on 9 April 2019.
However, police enquiries did not end there — as expert financial investigators from Sussex Police took up the trail.
This Tuesday (4 May) the same court granted a confiscation order against Toska in the amount of £511,668.30, under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).
This included £203,934.34 cash which police seized at the time of his arrest in 2018.
According to police, Toska will have to sell property and a vehicle to pay the order within three months or will face a further seven years imprisonment — and will still have to pay.
Detective Inspector Mark O'Brien of the force's Economic Crime Unit said:
"These orders result from the hard work of our expert financial investigators, building on the success of the investigating detectives.
"We aim to target not just the criminals but also their profits, whether they are from drug dealing or any other form of criminal activity.
"It can take time and each investigation results in an application for a court-authorised confiscation order."
Regarding how the orders operated, Sussex Police added that any funds obtained through POCA confiscation or cash forfeiture orders go to the central Government exchequer.
However a proportion of this is returned to law enforcement.
Sussex Police receive 50% cash back from cash forfeitures and 18.75% cash back from seized confiscation orders.
POCA funding received by Sussex Police is then distributed equally between the Police and Crime Commissioner and the force.
The force currently employ extra Financial Investigators and Financial Intelligence Officers from part of these funds to continue the fight in seizing criminal assets, with the remainder being used to support crime reduction and diversion projects.
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