Illegal waste boss hit with largest ever proceeds of crime ruling

Amrik Johal, 53, of Cheviot Road, Langley, Slough, was last week ordered to ordered to repay more than £800,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act (2002) and given a two year community sentence.

Johal was also warned he faces five years in jail if he doesn’t pay up when he was sentenced on August 4 at Reading Crown Court at the end of the two-year court saga.

He pleaded guilty to five charges of causing controlled waste to be kept contrary to Section 33 of the Environment Protection Act 1990 on April 23 last year for running the illegal waste dump on his land at Colnbrook Bypass, Colnbrook, Slough.

The Environment Agency applied for a confiscation application, under the 2002 act, forcing Johal to pay £881,513 the amount he’s thought to have earned from his crimes.

According to the ruling he must pay up within six months or face five years in jail.

During the numerous visits to the site, Environment Agency officers found:
skips full of mixed waste including, cardboard, buckets, carpet underlay and wood,
piles of mixed wood, metal and other waste on the ground,
empty skips branded ‘Johal skip hire’ with the defendants mobile number and skips containing engines, cables and waste electronic equipment piled at least nine metres high.

After the case Environment Agency officer, Morgan Lound, said: “His illegal activities were harmful to the environment, undermined legitimate business and have caused distress to local residents for many years.

“We are particularly satisfied with the confiscation order of £881,513, and the threat of five years’ imprisonment if he does not pay, because the Environment Agency wants to make sure that serious waste crime doesn’t pay.

“For years Johal has presided over an extensive and unlawful operation that has competed with law-abiding operators who operate from land with planning permission, who pay permit fees for a waste permit and are obliged to put in place expensive infrastructure to protect the environment and measures to protect the neighbours from nuisances such as dust, noise and odour.”

Luke Walsh