THREE men convicted of conning foreign meat firms out of more than £600,000 will discover how much they will be expected to pay back next month.

Dale Seymore, Darren Williams and Fahd Bux all pleaded guilty in April this year to being concerned in an arrangement which facilitates the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property in offences that took place around 2013.

The trio, aged between 47 and 54, used the details of a legitimate meat trader in the UK to make huge orders of meat to companies in France and Belgium without paying for them, even making one company bust.

OTHER NEWS:

The three men all played different roles in the operation – Seymore, from Elm Close in Oswestry, stored the meat in a warehouse in Rednal, while Williams purchased the produce through two farm shops that he owned.

Bux set up and helped with the website used to give the operation a legitimate front.

At Shrewsbury Crown Court on Thursday, Recorder A Reynolds adjourned the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing to Friday, November 24.

Border Counties Advertizer: Oswestry Advertizer readers can subscribe for just £5 for 5 months

This was to allow court time for Williams to contest the amount he may have to pay pack while Seymore and Bux ‘will more than likely’ be in a position to pay.

The POCA hearing will also be heard by Judge Peter Barrie who handed out the original suspended sentences to each men with Seymore, who was deemed to play a lesser role, received a 16-month sentence, suspended for two years.

Bux and Willimas, of Solihull and Shrewsbury respectively, both received 20 months, also suspended for two years.