A sophisticated cyber-fraudster dubbed "Sir Cash King" has been ordered to pay back more than half a million pounds of his criminal profits or face a further five years in jail. 

Sean Benson, 27, of Canterbury Road, Croydon, has been given three months to cough up £554,000 of the money he funnelled from victims' bank accounts using stolen debit and credit card data bought from a Russian online criminal network.

Benson was jailed for seven years in July 2015 after being found guilty of fraud and money laundering at Southwark Crown Court.

He ran a fake business, Identity Music, which claimed to sell audio material to DJs and musicians but in fact was a front for his frauds, some of which he used to fund a lavish wedding. 

His wife Jennifer Hallam, 26, was given an 18-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, after being convicted of money laundering following a joint investigation by the Metropolitan Police and the National Crime Agency (NCA.)

Benson used an online criminal forum under the pseudonym "Sir Cash King" to buy bank details from the Russian hackers.

His avatar on the forum was a cartoon character, created by Benson, of a besuited man holding a bank note.

Benson obtained data for more than 2,000 cards, with which he made purchases on his sham music website - which purported to sell beats, samples and loops to musicians - to channel the money directly into his five Lloyds TSB bank accounts.

Police have already seized £478,000 from Benson's frozen accounts, but a judge on Friday approved a confiscation order that means his sentence will be extended if he cannot find another £76,000 by November.

The money will be paid back to his victims.

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Sean Benson and Jennifer Hallam were convicted of money laundering last year

Benson's accounts contained £534,000 when they were frozen by the Met's criminal finance team in 2013.

He also withdrew £100,000 to pass to his wife, who transferred about £80,000 of it to the Russian criminals to pay for more bank details.

The couple used about £40,000 of stolen money to fund their extravagant wedding and honeymoon in Hawaii.

Anthony Hill, specialist prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service's international justice and organised crime division, said: "Criminals need to understand that we do not stop at conviction. If you are a criminal trying to benefit financially from the misery of others, we will go after your ill-gotten gains and return it to the victims.

"It's important to cut off this flow of cash, not only so criminals don't benefit from their illegal activity, but also that their money may not be used to fund further crime."

The court also approved an order to deprive Benson of three computers and a phone that he used to commit the frauds and a serious crime prevention order that will restrict his use of bank accounts and devices for five years after his release from prison.

Detective Constable Barry Steel, investigating officer at the Met, said: "The Met and the NCA will always work hard to strip criminals of assets obtained via criminal activity."