Loan shark must pay £150,000 or go back to jail

Alvin Hutchinson was jailed for illegal money lending in 2023

A loan shark previously jailed for illegal money lending has been ordered to pay more than £150,000 or face further time in prison.

Alvin Hutchinson, 55, was sentenced to 28 months in 2023 after admitting illegal money lending and concealing the proceeds of crime.

Investigators said at the time the Telford man made more than £90,000, charging borrowers 40% interest and intimidating them when they struggled to repay.

A proceeds of crime hearing at Shrewsbury Crown Court last Friday ordered him to hand available assets of £158,901 to the court within three months, or else serve another two years in jail.

The case was prosecuted by the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT), in partnership with Telford Trading Standards and West Mercia Police.

Hutchinson, who is out of prison on licence, ran his lending operation between January 2015 and May 2019 without the necessary authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the IMLT said.

Following an investigation, investigators searched his home in Hartley Close, The Rock, in 2019.

The court heard in 2023 the lender forced one customer to buy a 65in TV on credit, which he then used, leaving the buyer struggling to make repayments.

He charged another borrower 40% interest on loans of between £100 and £200, with an additional 40% added if the funds were not paid off after a week.

Another customer estimated he owed Hutchinson £3,000 at one point, despite having only borrowed between £500 to £600.

Speaking after Friday's hearing, IMLT head Dave Benbow said: "Hutchinson made thousands of pounds by exploiting vulnerable people and it is only right that he should not continue to benefit from the money he made."

He said money confiscated from him would be used to combat illegal lending across the country.

The IMLT was set up in 2004 and hosted by Birmingham City Council.