Brothel manager to pay back £2.6m

A woman who managed four brothels has been ordered to pay back £2.6m in illegal earnings.

Diana Jones, 46, from near Carmarthen, received a 12-month suspended sentence in January 2008 for managing the brothels and money laundering.

She was one of five women who admitted the charges, which related to three premises in Cardiff and one in Swindon.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court ordered her to pay the money within six months or she will be jailed for four years.

The five women were sentenced in January 2008 following extensive police inquiries.

Following Jones' conviction a month earlier, the Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART) used the Proceeds of Crime Act to launch a confiscation investigation.

At a hearing in February 2009, a court said Jones had earned £4m from her activities.

She has now been ordered to pay £2.6m within six months.

She was not in court, and out of the country, said her legal representative at the hearing on Thursday.

More than £116,000 is to be confiscated from the four other women connected with the case.

Head of RART in Wales Det Ch Insp Chris Dodd said: "The extent of Jones' offending bought her a significant lifestyle which we will now dismantle.

"Our colleagues in South Wales Police identified the original offences, the expertise of RART officers traced assets, restrained properties and obtained the confiscation orders.

"The RART will now assist the courts service to enforce the orders and ensure that Jones pays what is owed, or serves the additional sentence.

"This end-to-end co-operation will continue to be focused on those who seek to profit from such criminality."