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Miller’s back in the money
Reporter: BEATRIZ AYALA
Date online: 12 March 2010
Police return £66,000 seized in raids on kitchen business
MORE than £66,000 has been returned to Vance Miller following the collapse of the multi-million pound trial.
The controversial kitchen boss received two cheques this week from Greater Manchester Police Authority for £65,600.39 and £922.16.
The cash was seized from his business safe inside Maple Mill during two raids by police and Trading Standards officers in 2006 and 2009.
The cheques have been made out to his mother, Margaret Miller, as Mr Miller’s bank accounts were closed when police began their investigations prior to the bungled prosecution, which began last year.
Mr Miller said: “The money is rightly mine. It’s taken four years to come back.
“It was taken as proceeds of crime but it is obviously not. It has taken them four years to decide it’s not proceeds of crime.
“I’d like to say the money will be put into getting a youth club set up in Hathershaw but it will probably go to paying business bills and will be swallowed up five minutes after being banked.”
Mr Miller spoke before attending a meeting with Oldham Trading Standards officers to discuss the future of his kitchen business.
Similar meetings with Trading Standards, which all businesses can arrange, had already taken place before the start of the trial but had to be postponed.
The botched fraud trial, hailed as the largest, most expensive fraud trial brought by a Trading Standards authority in the UK, was due to last six months but collapsed in its 17th week in January.
Head of Oldham Trading Standards, Tony Allen, has been suspended ahead of a review of the case.
Oldham Council has now appealed against a judge’s order for the authority to pay the trial costs, an estimated £5 million.
Mr Miller (44), from Ramsbottom, who was cleared along with four co-defendents, said it was “disgusting” that Oldham people could be penalised for the council’s mistake.
He said a good relationship was now needed between himself and Trading Standards.
He said: “The meeting is to hopefully take the business forward and have some kind of trust with Oldham Trading Standards.
“I’ve got plans to expand, it is the one thing that keeps me going. We need to be working together.
“I’ve always been trustworthy from day one, its Trading Standards who have got bridges to build with me.”
Comments
Effie60....Excellent comment and couldnt agree more...exactlly what I thought when I read it - what a joker.
Looks like all the staff at Maple Mill will be having one hell of a big party soon.
I wouldn't want any business relationship with VM.
I bet Vance Miller spends that £66,000 a lot more wisely than Oldham Council would have.
I reckon a three year old who has watched one episode of la law could have nailed this guy. What an embarrassment our council is
This case was meant to showcase what happened to people that crossed the council. As it is it looks like it's a showcase for what happens when the council crosses vance miller.
If Vance Miller is all hot air then you are obviously underestimate him. lets not forget that without any legal representation he single handedly beat Oldham Council in court. The Judge obviously didn't think that Mr.Miller was full of hot air. If Vance Miller is full of hot air then i wouldn't mind a bit of it.
I wonder if the payout includes interest
I wonder what would of happened to the money if Vance had of lost the case? party at OMBC and OTS
He may not be every ones cup of tea, least of all oldham councils. But even so after 4 years of keeping his money if they added interest he could follo up on his plans for a youth club
He's only after publicity.
It seems to me that this is the very time that Tony Allen would have been stood in the exact place that Vance Miller is stood now boasting about how he brought down vance miller but it seems that good old Vance has had the last laugh.It seems to me though that council chiefs will be looking right now at what next for vm.Wouldnt surprise me if they sent in the enviromental health next and come out with the conclusion that hes manufacturing nuclear weapons
He may not be every ones cup of tea, least of all oldham councils. But even so after 4 years of keeping his money if they added interest he could follo up on his plans for a youth club
You seem to have forgotten that Mr Miller is not guilty of any crime, yet his money has been held for 4 years, I'm not surprised that he has bills to pay, probably wages too, but I am guessing that the party might start when he gets the £5 million from Oldham Council !!!!
Incidently, who gets the interest that the money earned while it was "confiscated"?
Just seen vm on bbc news.It looked like it was oldham council that were full of hot air as they returned all of his documents after what was described by the presenter as an oppressive,misconcieved prosecution from the start and an abuse of the courts procedure.It looked pretty obvious from the amount of paper work returned that they just wanted to close him down at any cost.I would love to know what the real reason was for this vendetta against vance miller.
Dear Efiie-60...Vance Miller didn't say that he was going to build a youth club, but said that he would like to, so what is so wrong about that? As for him saying that he would set up a youth club in the town hall if the council gave it to him, then why would he need money to pay for it if they were going to give it him. Mr Millers comments about youth clubs in Oldham are definately a worthy subject.
It;s bad enough that this money was taken and kept for 4 years, but what about the loss of interest/overdraft charges, will he be compensated for these costs, As for the youth club, at least somebody is thinking about local youngsters, most people just see them as trouble makers and avoid making any efforts to help them.
Why was this picture taken in front of the Civic Centre and not the police station? A bit mischievous of the Chron I think but i suppose it makes good copy.
Why do I despair of this completely inept Lib-Dem council and Chief Executive? Laurel and Hardy get everything wrong and then try to put the blame on somebody else.
It can't go on.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds were taking of this man for four years; most businesses would have crumbled by now with such a huge amount of cash taken of them...But Mr Miller put his personal money into the business in order to keep it running...Don’t see what all the fuss is about as he is only taking back what was rightly his to start with.
It was an OMBC Trading Standards prosecution NOT a police prosecution hence the Civic Centre and not the cop shop.
Well i certainly would have a business relationship with VM.Atleast he would tell it as it is unlike oldham council who do nothing but mislead us.As for vm just wanting publicity i think that we are forgetting that it was oldham council that started off all the mega publicity surrounding this case and all vm is doing is continuing with the publicising of the results something that oldham council would have been only to happy to shout about had it gone their way but unfortunately it did not.
Have Your Say
Vance would like to say he'll use the money to set up a youth club but won't because he has bills to pay and no bank account. So why says so? He is all hot air.
Didn't he promise he would set up a youth club in the old town hall if the council gave it to him? Was that with no money to pay for it?
By Effie60 @ 12/03/2010 14:12:44