AN illegal money-lender was yesterday ordered to hand over the cash he made from crime – or face six months behind bars.

David Naylor was given a six-month deadline to meet a £9,000 confiscation order certified by a Teesside Crown Court judge.

The move comes ten months after Naylor was spared prison and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community work.

He was warned then that prosecutors were planning to pursue a Proceeds of Crime Act application to confiscate his assets.

Yesterday, Naylor returned to court planning to contest the amount of money he had made or how much he had available.

But after talks between his barrister and prosecutors, it was agreed his benefit and realisable assets were equal at £9,000.

Dan Cordey, for Naylor, told the court that the 41-year-old was hoping to free up the cash by selling his Darlington home.

“It needs to be sold and in this day and age, six months?”

said Mr Cordey. “He will have to deal with the difficulties, if not.”

The court heard last year that loan shark Naylor charged customers a staggering annual rate of six billion per cent.

Naylor, of Stockton Road, Darlington, admitted engaging in an activity requiring a licence and money laundering.

Mr Cordey told the court that many of the loans were credit agreements with people who bought washing machines from Naylor.

He was described as a wheeler- dealer by Mr Cordey, who said he stopped lending the money when people would not repay him.

Naylor told his probation officer that he felt as though he was doing a public service, although he admitted wanting to be a millionaire.

He was a would-be inventor and also had three jobs – two as a delivery driver, and his own appliance repair business.

The court was told he delivered newspapers to shops and collected furniture for a charity in Hartlepool and Sunderland.

Mr Cordey told the court: “Mr Naylor is somebody who wheels and deal. He was dealing in second-hand washing machines at the time.

“He hit on this bright idea of loaning money to people and hoped that it would make him some quick and easy money.

“He did it for a month and was very quickly disabused of the idea that it was quick and easy money because people didn’t pay him back. He essentially gave up and wrote off the whole enterprise.”