article: A meat trader who swindled cash through a mortgage fraud scam to pay for luxury holidays was ordered to pay back £500,000 today. Grant Allen, 38, of Harlow, Essex, travelled first class around the world with his girlfriend Gaynor Godwin and bought a holiday home on the Costa Del Sol, Spain, using criminally gained money. The pair stayed at top hotels on at least eight holidays costing £30,000 between 2006 and 2010, including a trip to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2009 worth £7,600. Grant Allen (left), 38, of Harlow, Essex, travelled round the world with his girlfriend, Gaynor Godwin (right) using money from a mortgage fraud scam. Edward Byatt (behind Allen, left) was also involved in the fraud . Allen also splurged £8,700 on a holiday to Florida in 2009 when he took his girlfriend and children to Disney World. The Old Bailey heard that he hid the fraud by buying and trading properties and funnelling large amounts of cash through his unwitting girlfriend's bank account. The couple lived in a £700,000 home in Rayne, Essex - where £33,000 was spent on landscaping the garden - and also owned a property in Hertfordshire, bought with the proceeds of the fraud. When the home in Essex was raided in 2011, detectives found large piles of cash including £1,000 which was stashed in the extractor fan in the kitchen. Judge Stephen Kramer QC today ordered Allen to pay back £491,000 as the proceeds of crime. Allen, who was jailed for six years for mortgage fraud and money laundering, could face another three years behind bars if he fails to pay the money back. Allen splurged £8,700 on a holiday to Florida in 2009 when he took his girlfriend and children to Disney World . However, the court heard he has assets including homes in Essex, Bishop Stortford, and southern Spain which he can sell to cover the repayment. A second defendant, Edward Byatt, 39, of Buckhurst Hill, Essex, was ordered to pay back £10,000 for his part in the fraud. His name was on the deeds for the home in Rayne, despite Allen living there with Ms Godwin and their young son. ‘Grant Allen used other people in the laundering process. He is somehow involved in criminal behaviour,’ prosecutor Charles Evans told the trial in 2013. ‘The money would have been criminal proceeds.’ During his trial, Allen claimed he worked as a meat trader and a builder, and suggested his funds had come from successful gambling ventures. The pair stayed at top hotels on at least eight holidays costing £30,000 between 2006 and 2010, including a trip to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2009 worth £7,600 . Mr Evans told the jury: ‘Grant Allen and Gaynor Godwin lived an enviable lifestyle and travelled to Dubai and America, sometimes travelling first class and staying in luxury hotels.’ Godwin was cleared by the jury of conspiracy to remove criminal property after telling them she had no idea where Allen had got the large sums of money. But Allen and Byatt were both convicted after trial and were both in court to hear the order being made. The judge will consider on Thursday whether to impose on Allen a strict financial reporting order which would force him to present the authorities with regular documents showing his use of money.
highlights: Grant Allen, 38, spent £30,000 holidaying with girlfriend Gaynor Godwin .
  He bought houses in Costa Del Sol as well as in Essex and Hertfordshire .
  Court heard meat trader hid fraud by funnelling cash into partner's bank .
  Allen was previously jailed for six years for fraud and money laundering .
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