JERSEY will extradite a Money-laundering hotelier from Alicante

AN Alicante-based hotelier and money launderer who used a Jersey account to hide fraudulent [the proceeds of his tax evasion] cash has been ordered to be extradited to Jersey after refusing to travel to the Island for his sentencing.

HILL IS GUILTY

• In 2019, Southwark Crown Court sentenced Hill to 30 months imprisonment for three charges of VAT evasion.
• In September 2024, Martin John Hill (56)
• Pleaded guilty to six counts of money laundering [the proceeds of his tax evasion] in the Royal Court, appearing via video link from his Costa Blanca home.
• Admitted to transferring money from a UK account at Tesco Bank to an account at Santander International’s Jersey Branch.
• Admitted to possessing or controlling criminal property worth £340,500, which he held in a Jersey account—money he had fraudulently earned.

THE STORY

• The hotelier had made inaccurate tax declarations between 2014 and 2016 for two Isle of Wight hotels, the Burlington Hotel and the Shanklin Beach Hotel.
• He under-declared sales for the hotels and pocketed the VAT he charged guests – and used Jersey accounts to stash it away.
• In 2017, he made three transfers, amounting to £165,500, £10,000, and £86,500. These made up three charges of converting or transferring criminal property.
• Between 2017 and 2018, he converted £28,487 in a Jersey account to euros, which made another charge of converting or transferring criminal property.

THE LAWYERS SAID:-

• Advocate Ian Jones, defending, told the Royal Court that:-
• He had not received instructions to appear or give any details on Hill’s behalf – for example, if any reasons prevented him from travelling to Jersey.

• Hill had “positively decided not to appear” and knew this meant breaking his bail conditions.
• Crown Advocate Sam Brown, prosecuting, asked for Hill to be extradited and for a warrant to be issued for his arrest. He said the process of extraditing Hill had already begun, and working with Spanish authorities had not presented a problem in the past.
• Extraditing Hill could take between six and eight months, the court heard.

THE DEPUTY BAILIFF, ROBERT MACRAE, SAID:

• “The defendant has voluntarily elected not to appear, without any good reason advanced… We revoke his bail and order his arrest.
• “We understand that extradition proceedings have begun.”

The Deputy Bailiff was sitting alongside Jurats Austin-Vautier and Le Heuzé.

SOURCE

https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2024/11/22/money-laundering-hotelier-to-be-extradited-from-alicante/