Birmingham brothel owner jailed for not paying back £2m proceeds

Jul 15 2010

A Black Country man who ran a brothel in Birmingham has been jailed for seven years for failing to pay back £2m he made from the venture.

Carl Pritchett, 57, of Kingswinford, was jailed by Birmingham magistrates as a result of non-payment of a £2million confiscation order made against him in connection with the running of Cuddles Massage Parlour, on Hagley Road, Bearwood.

Pritchett, along with Susan Richards and Nathan Langstone, was originally jailed for two years in 2006 after being convicted for keeping a brothel used for prostitution, possessing a prohibited firearm and having an offensive weapon. 

In 2009 he was ordered to pay £2 million within six months or face a further jail term.

Syed Askari, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "The CPS and our partners in the criminal justice system are committed to taking cash out of crime. In enforcing confiscation orders we will robustly pursue defaulters and seek activation of the default sentence by the court where there is wilful non-compliance.

"Furthermore, where there are assets that remain uncollected, those assets could become the working capital of criminals in new criminal ventures when they are released from their prison sentences."

John Barker, from West Midlands Police Central Payback Team, said: "Carl Pritchett was made subject of a £2million confiscation order in September 2009. That order was based upon money Pritchett had made, and conceded he had made from prostitution. He was given time to pay, but failed to do so.

"That failure resulted in him being jailed for seven years. Despite the term of imprisonment, enforcement of the order will continue until it has been paid in full. Orders made under the Proceeds of Crime Act do not go away and cannot be ignored."