A children’s play centre in Southport was linked to the flow of alleged drugs money into the bank account of a feared gangster’s wife.
The fourth day of a hearing on the alleged £2m criminal fortune of the notorious Clarke family heard PlayTown, in Ocean Plaza, received money from a Liverpool property developer linked to drugs trafficking and money laundering.
Brothers Stephen Clarke, 48 and former army corporal Peter Clarke, 37, headed up a sprawling organised crime group which stretched from Manchester to Northern Ireland and were jailed for a combined 26 and-a-half-years in November 2013.
Now the brothers are locked in a battle with prosecutors who say their alleged £2m fortune was amassed through drugs trafficking and is “squirrelled away in murky web of hidden assets.”
The Crown Prosecution Service is also targeting the assets of Stephen’s wife Rachel Clarke and Peter’s wife Maria Clarke.
Today Preston Crown Court heard that Rachel Clarke was a 50% shareholder in PlayTown alongside Gillian Ashcroft, who ran the business.
Detective Constable Duncan Watson, giving evidence, said £90,000 was paid to the company by the now United Arab Emirates based developer, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
He suggested that the money was related to the supply of drugs and was intended for Rachel Clarke.
The court heard the company, which has since been sold, also paid a small wage to Maria Clarke despite no evidence of her playing any role in the legitimate activities of the business.
Alex Wright, representing Rachel Clarke, claimed there was no evidence the payment was intended for his client and said the money was a loan.
He said: “The only benefit in relation to (the developer), of £90,000, was made to the company and not Mrs Clarke personally. She was a 50% shareholder with another woman, Gillian Ashcroft.”
Earlier this week Nigel Power, QC, defending Stephen Clarke, claimed the family’s money came from legitimate scaffolding and security companies, which did business with McDonald’s, Holiday Inn, Redrow Houses and even Warrington Borough Council.
Referring to one scaffolding company linked to Clarke, named CNL, he said: “One can see legitimately transferred payments going in, and cash being withdrawn. This is the opposite of money laundering.”
Stephen Clarke, left, and brother Peter
But prosecution counsel Nick Johnson, QC, claimed payments to companies linked to Clarke were made by a business run by the same developer, and to other businesses linked to various associates of the Clarke family.
PlayTown was raided by police from Titan, the North West Regional Organised Crime unit, in 2012 as part of an investigation in money laundering, drugs trafficking and firearms offences.
No illegal drugs or weapons were found on the premises.
At the time Ms Ashcroft said: “There’s a lot of suspicion drugs and firearms were found here – why would anyone bring those to a children’s centre?
“I haven’t been charged with anything, I’m not involved in any criminal activity – they just looked at financial documents and they went and that’s all they came for.”
The complex Proceeds of Crime Act hearing is set to last several weeks.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/