Antoni Muldoon, escort scam fraudster, told to repay £750,000

Antoni Muldoon was jailed for seven and a half years in 2013 for an internet fraud

The leader of a gang of fraudsters, who conned thousands of people in a £5.7m escort scam, has been ordered to repay £750,000.

Antoni Muldoon, 68, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in 2013 for his part in a internet fraud in which 17,000 people lost money by signing up to escort websites.

A proceeds of crime hearing has taken place at Ipswich Crown Court.

He was given six months to pay or face a further four years in jail.

Muldoon, who lived in Spain, admitted two counts of conspiracy to defraud.

The case, which also included bogus debt-elimination scams, was investigated by Suffolk County Council's trading standards team.

The trial last year heard how a series of escort agency websites were set up

Six other people were sentenced for their part in the scam.

Assets pursued

At earlier hearings, Mark Bell, 43, of Westerfield near Ipswich, was jailed for six-and-a-half years for fraud and ordered to repay £160,000.

Colin Samuels, 63, of Redgrave, Suffolk, was jailed for five-and-a-half years for conspiracy to defraud and ordered to repay £37,000.

Bradley Rogers, 30, from Malaga, Spain, was jailed for two years and 10 months for money laundering and ordered to repay £1.

Former West Yorkshire Police detective Christopher Taylor, 59, of Wakefield, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for money laundering and ordered to forfeit nearly £100,000.

Geraldine French, 62, from Spain, was jailed for six years and five months for conspiracy to defraud and ordered to repay £37,000.

Jeffrey Owens, 65, of Colyford, Devon, admitted money laundering and was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years. He did not face a proceeds of crime hearing.