Hatton Garden Crook Michael Seed Ordered to Pay Back Nearly £6 Million or Face More Jail
Seed’s £13.9 Million Heist Leads to Major Payback Order
Michael Seed, 60, was jailed for ten years in March 2019 after being found guilty of conspiracy to burgle and hiding the loot from the infamous Hatton Garden safe deposit box raid. The Easter 2015 heist saw around £13.9 million stolen, and Seed was found to have a slice of the spoils.
Confiscation Order Hits Seed Hard
After his conviction, Seed was slapped with a confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Following a one-day hearing at Woolwich Crown Court in July, a ruling delivered on 1 October now forces Seed to cough up £5,997,684.93 within three months — or face an extra seven years behind bars.
Flying Squad Boss Vows No Let-Up
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Bedford, of the Met’s Flying Squad, said: “The conviction and sentencing of Seed – also known as Basil – closed one of the longest investigations in the Squad’s history. He was the man who got into Hatton Garden and disabled security systems. He was the last suspect to be convicted, which happened in March last year.
“So far, we’ve recovered just over a third of the stolen loot and returned most of it to victims. The end of the trials wasn’t the end of this probe. Our specialist financial investigators have been tirelessly tracking down assets linked to these criminals over many years.
“We’ve already served Proceeds of Crime orders on other gang members. Thanks to gritty work alongside the Crown Prosecution Service, we’ve now hit Seed with another order. Crime must not pay. This shows how far we’ll go to make sure criminals can’t enjoy their dirty gains.”
