A Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation hearing took place at the Central Criminal Court earlier this month, where Anthony Fear and Fears Animal Products Limited were each issued with a separate confiscation order of £35,483.63, amounting to a combined total of £70,967.26.
In August 2025, Anthony Fear, sole director of Fear Animal Products Limited, was sentenced to 42 months in prison for conspiracy to defraud by placing food not fit for human consumption on the market, and disqualified from acting as a company director for six years.
The sentencing followed a complex investigation that began when Southwark officers discovered 1.9 tonnes of Category 3 animal by-products, including whole and cut chickens, lamb’s testicles and beef burgers, being processed for sale into the human food chain at an illegal meat cutting plant in London.
Fears Animal Products Limited is due to be sentenced in the coming months.
“This result sends a clear message – whether you are an individual or a company, there is nowhere to hide. If you have profited from criminal activity, we will find you and take those profits from you. The action taken by our financial investigation team reinforces that crime simply does not pay.”
“Securing confiscation orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act is a key part of our strategy against serious food fraud. We do this to ensure nobody profits from their crimes and to send a clear deterrent message to anyone thinking of following the same path. Not only do food criminals such as Anthony Fear face custodial sentences, they will also be stripped of any profits made from their criminality.
Our Financial Investigators are experts in establishing those profits and identifying realisable assets, no matter the lengths some criminals go to in order to conceal them.”
“This case highlights the serious risks that illegal food operations pose to public health and why robust enforcement is so important.
Consumers have a right to expect that the food they buy is safe and meets proper standards. This outcome sends a strong message that we will not tolerate those who put profit before people’s safety. We will continue to take firm action against illegal activity like this and do everything we can to protect the health and confidence of our communities.”
Councillor Natasha Ennin, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Neighbourhoods
If you suspect food fraud, report it to Food Crime Confidential on food.gov.uk/report or by phoning 0800 028 1180 (0207 276 8787 for non-UK mobiles and calls).
