A disgraced property tycoon must hand over £92,500 after a donation he made to an independent girls' school was returned.
Francis Holland School, in Sloane Square in central London, returned the money to Achilleas Kallakis after he was jailed for fraud in 2013.
The school, attended by actress Sienna Miller and model Cara Delevingne, named its theatre after the fraudster following a £250,000 gift in 2005.
However, the school, which charges £21,000 a year, removed the plaque and returned £92,500 of the donation after Kallakis was jailed over Britain’s biggest ever mortgage scam.
Kallakis’ daughter Erinoula attended the school at the time of the donation.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said the returned donation represented the proceeds of crime and applied to seize the money at a confiscation hearing at Southwark Crown Court.
Kallakis, who was known as “The Don” in high-stakes games on the international poker circuit, claimed he did not have an interest in the money, which he said was paid by the family trust.
Judge Tony Baumgartner on Friday granted the SFO’s application and said Kallakis, who was not in court, must pay £92,500 within 28 days or face a year in prison.
“I am satisfied that the donation to the school came from the surplus monies of the fraud committed by the defendant and his co-conspirators,” he said in a written judgment.
Kallakis and co-defendant Alex Williams were jailed for seven years – later increased to 11 – after being found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to defraud in 2013.
They duped banks out of more than £740 million between 2003 and 2008 in the sophisticated property and luxury yacht scam.
The money was used to fund the lifestyle of the super-rich in which he maintained a fleet of chauffeur-driven Bentleys, a private plane, a private helicopter, a luxury yacht moored in Monaco harbour and a collection of high-value artworks.
The “Kallakis Theatre” at Francis Holland School, was named in his honour after he “negotiated the terms of the donation” with the headmistress and bursar, said Christopher Convey, representing the SFO.
Payments of £75,000 and £175,000 were made in 2005 from his Swiss bank account into the school’s account in the Channel Islands.
SFO director Lisa Osofsky said: “Today’s ruling demonstrates our determination to go after fraudsters, no matter when they committed a crime or where they hide their assets.
“In the last two years alone, we have recovered 100% of the funds we have gone after – almost £140 million in proceeds of crime – including from cases a decade after prosecution like Kallakis.”
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