First joint prosecution for illegal money lending and gambling ends in prison sentence

A father and son from Preston who ran illegal money lending and gambling businesses have been sentenced at a hearing at Preston Crown Court, marking a successful conclusion to the first joint prosecution for illegal money lending and unauthorised gambling.

James Alston Senior and James Alston Junior were convicted of charges of illegal money lending, money laundering and possessing criminal property from the proceeds of acting as an unlicensed bookmaker. Neither had a licence to lend money from the Office of Fair Trading or a gambling licence.

The prosecution was brought by the England Illegal Money Lending Team working in partnership with the Gambling Commission and Lancashire Trading Standards. Alston Senior was sentenced to 18 months in prison and his son was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

The prosecution told the court that Alston Senior operated as a loan shark for more than six years, and that his son for almost two years. While the true scale of their illegal business is unknown, £19,000 in cash was seized from the pair. Alston Senior's notebook records showed a list of 32 names of people he had lent money to during a period of seven months. The records show that during that period he had collected in excess of £28,000.

His son was found with records at his home in Westleigh Road listing between 24 and 30 names. The assumed return for Alston Junior, who was claiming benefits, was in excess of £1,800 per month. Many of the Alstons' borrowers were friends with them before taking out a loan for everyday essentials, but were soon hit with steep interest payments. Borrowers were never given paperwork so were kept completely in the dark as to how much they were actually repaying.

The living room of Alston Senior’s two bedroom apartment, which he bought with cash, contained three TV screens tuned to various racing channels and a fruit machine for gamblers to use. A keyboard and monitor bet settler was also found during the search, an item commonplace in licensed bookmaking premises, used for settling complex betting transactions.

Further evidence included a book containing betting transactions, with bets placed with Alston senior amounting to more than £22,000 in a four month period. Alston Junior's records show more than £800 worth of bets were placed with him over five months.

Tony Quigley, Head of the England Illegal Money Lending Team, said “This is one of many successful convictions and sends a clear message that loan sharking and other related criminal activity will not be tolerated. Working in partnership with the Gambling Commission and Lancashire Trading Standards, we have stopped this illegal business from operating and prevented more people from falling into this trap.

The Gambling Commission’s Regional Compliance Manager, Alan Green, said: “Working in partnership with other law enforcement agencies is central to the Gambling Commission’s approach to keeping gambling fair and safe. The proceeds from unlicensed bookmaking were taken from very vulnerable people who were often drawn into betting with the Alstons in order to clear or reduce debts that had been built-up through illegal money lending.”

Nationally, the illegal money lending teams have secured over 212 prosecutions for illegal money lending and related activity, leading to more than 132 years worth of custodial sentences. They have written off almost £40million worth of illegal debt and helped over 18,000 victims.