A VAT fraudster who operated under numerous false identities must repay almost £3.5million or face an extra 10 years in prison.
John Dalton, 56, who used forged documents and at least 12 different names, conned a huge sum from HMRC.
After being arrested he escaped justice for 10 years but was eventually found in Spain, brought back to Britain and jailed for five years and four months.
Police then used powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act to investigate assets obtained from his offences.
After a hearing at Inner London crown court, a judge has now ordered him to pay £3.49m within three months or spend the extra time in jail.
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Det Supt Patrick Milford, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: “Dalton is a career criminal who has cheated his way through life to make huge sums of money.
“We identified properties in the UK and France and suspected he had a wealth of hidden worldwide assets.”
If Dalton coughs up the money, Kent police would receive a large amount.
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Dalton, born Paul Kemp and formerly of Canterbury, Kent, worked with a gang to bank £3.8m through falsely claimed VAT repayments.
He carried out the fraud by setting up sham companies.
He used aliases such as Jean Paul Dalton, Stephen Walker, James Spencer, Charles Cassick and Peter Westlake.
He fled after his arrest in 2007.
After being found and extradited he pleaded guilty in 2018 to being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of VAT.
Three others in the gang were jailed in 2010.
