Ex-Hull nightclub boss ordered to pay back almost £500k – or face years in jail

A convicted fraudster and money launderer has been ordered to pay back nearly half a million pounds in money gained through crime – or else face five years in prison.

Arthur Wilder, a former nightclub boss who once ran the Tower, in Anlaby Road, and boasted of working on a James Bond film, must pay back the money within three months, a court has ruled. Specialist police officers said he had used a complex web of international companies to hide his assets.

Wilder, 72, was sentenced to three years in jail at Hull Crown Court in 2018 for a £1m mortgage fraud. He was found guilty of deliberately making false statements about his earnings in an application for a mortgage to buy Raithby Hall, a stately home in Lincolnshire.

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Now, Wilder, of Victoria Street, Goole, has been ordered to pay back £497,108.11. He had benefited by as much as £1.4m from his criminal activities, Hull Crown Court ruled.

Following his conviction in 2018, officers from the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Economic Crime Unit started confiscation proceedings against Wilder under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Financial inquiries revealed that he used his knowledge of international banking, finance and corporate structures to hide the proceeds of his crimes.

Wilder tried to hide and disguise his assets through a complex web of international companies, the court heard. He was assisted by professionals, agents and others based both in the UK and offshore, in countries including Belize and the US.

Speaking after the hearing, Ramona Senior, head of the Regional Economic Crime Unit, said: “We welcome the order made by the court as a result of our investigation. Wilder’s complex financial affairs presented a number of challenges in this case. Every effort was made by the defence to frustrate these proceedings, which commenced in 2018 following the conviction of Wilder.

“However, the determination and experience of our team has shown that efforts to hide criminal proceeds outside of the United Kingdom do not mean they are beyond the reach of law enforcement. The Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit Asset Confiscation Enforcement (ACE) team will now work closely with the Crown Prosecution Service and HMCTS to ensure full payment of the order.”

‘Clients included royalty’

Wilder, who ran nightclubs in Hull and Goole, designed luxury yachts for royalty and even claimed to have worked on a James Bond film. His deal for Raithby Hall eventually fell through without him buying the property.

However, a year later, he managed to secure a £1.4m remortgage deal from the same bank on a house he owned in Owston Ferry, near Scunthorpe, after supplying the same false information. In both transactions, he failed to declare a previous bankruptcy.

During the trial in June 2018, Wilder told the court he had mainly lived and worked abroad since the early 1980s, designing and chartering luxury yachts in America, Spain and the Carribean. He claimed his clients had included the late King Juan Carlos of Spain and a number of Saudi princes.

He also boasted about designing a superyacht for the James Bond film The Living Daylights. Closer to home, he designed a £1.5m facelift for the Tower nightclub in Hull in 2005, which included the installation of an indoor waterfall, more than 100 palm trees and the replacement of the grade two listed building’s distinctive rooftop domes. He later opened Bar Oasis, in Victoria Street, Goole.

Wilder was convicted of attempting to obtain a money transfer by deception, fraud and converting criminal property (money laundering). During sentencing in 2018, Judge Mark Bury told him: “You saw an opportunity to exploit the mortgage market and you did so but ultimately it all come crashing down around your head.

“It is reassuring to know the banking industry has tightened up significantly since then. Now, you have to provide proper information before any mortgage is advanced.”

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