Appeal result due on how much ex-gangster must pay back

A former gangster is to learn the result of his appeal over how much he has to pay back from his days of crime.

Terry Adams, of the Clerkenwell syndicate also known as the Adams Family, said he had insufficient funds to meet a debt of £651,611.

A confiscation order of £750,000 was imposed in 2007 after he was jailed for seven years for conspiracy to conceal the proceeds of crime through money-laundering.

By August 2014, when High Court judge Mrs Justice Nicola Davies refused his application for a certificate of inadequacy to begin the process of getting a reduction, £651,611 was outstanding.

The order is still incurring interest and now stands at more than £700,000.

Adams told the judge he was so broke that he felt ''like a ponce'' living off his actress wife Ruth and denied having hidden funds that were behind a lavish lifestyle.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) opposed his application, saying there was a strong case that Adams possessed ''substantial undisclosed assets''.

The judge said she was not satisfied that Adams had provided "full and candid disclosure".

Adams denied that he was using his wife, family and associates to create a sham income and loans to pay for visits to the opera and top restaurants, spa memberships and treatment at private clinics.

On Monday, the Court of Appeal is giving its decision on his challenge to the High Court ruling.

His counsel, Ivan Krolick, told Lord Justice Longmore, Lord Justice Hamblen and Lord Justice Irwin that the judge got it wrong against the weight of the evidence.

But Kennedy Talbot QC, for the CPS, said her decision was "fully justified".

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