Head of family run prostitution ring to hand over profits
14th March 2011
The head of an organised crime gang who ran an international prostitution ring has been ordered to hand over almost £2 million of criminal profits.
SOCA was granted a Confiscation Order for £1,902,496 in Cardiff Crown Court against Thomas Carroll from Carlow after His Honour Judge Bidder QC ruled his assets including properties in Wales and South Africa were purchased with the proceeds of crime.
Carroll is already serving a seven year prison sentence, if he fails to meet the order he will face another 10 years in prison and the assets will include;
- Four houses in Wales
- Three houses in South Africa
- Four cars including two Mercedes
- Personal registration number plate
In passing judgment (11 March 2011) HHJ Bidder QC said "This defendant has shown that he is prepared to squirrel away in properties abroad the proceeds of his prostitution business. He is a convicted money launderer. He is determined and astute."
Thomas Carroll, 49, ran his business from a rented house in Castlemartin in Wales along with his partner Shamiela Clark, 33 and his 27 year old daughter Toma Carroll. One room in the house was a dedicated call centre where they coordinated their clients’ calls. They could receive up to 300 calls in any one day for all their brothels throughout the UK and Ireland.
Some women, mainly from Europe, were recruited through advertisements on the internet and through publications in the UK. Others from Nigeria were trafficked into the UK believing they were escaping to a better life. They were told they would be educated and become hairdressers or seamstresses. Instead they were subjected to African rituals designed to frighten them into compliance and forced into prostitution. All the money they made was taken back to pay off their ‘debt’ to their traffickers.
A Confiscation Order was granted against Shamiela Clark at Cardiff Crown Court (2nd September 2010) for £360,000. If she does not pay within six months she will serve a further three years in prison.
The joint investigation by SOCA, the PSNI, Dyfed Powys Police and AGS, originated during Pentameter 2, a coordinated UK wide operation into human trafficking.
For more information on asset recovery visit our criminal finances page.