The assets of the canoe death scam couple have been frozen in the first step to recover the Ј250,000 they conned out of insurance firms.
Back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin and his wife Anne were each jailed for more than six years for fraud.
Police said there was now a worldwide freeze on their assets and the long process to get the cash back through the Proceeds of Crime Act had begun.
The pair had hoped to start a new life in Panama after getting into debt.
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Anne Darwin, 56, was given six and a half years for the fraud on Thursday.
Police believe that when they were arrested last December their assets were worth about Ј500,000 - the equivalent of one million US dollars in Panama.
After Mr Darwin walked into a London police station, officers began unravelling their complicated finances.
Mrs Darwin had bought an apartment in Panama City, worth Ј28,000, and spent a further Ј198,000 on land to build a canoeing centre for tourists.
Mr Darwin, who loved flashy cars, splashed out Ј45,000 on a Toyota Land Cruiser. The couple also had various bank accounts containing almost Ј2,000.
Det Insp Andy Greenwood, who led the inquiry into the couple, said: "Any reasonable person who finds themselves in the Darwins' position would sell their properties to realise the debt.
"Instead they hatched this plot. Mr and Mrs Darwin liked to portray themselves as well-to-do and it was an image that they found difficult to move away from.
"We will pursue them through the Proceeds of Crime Act. All of the life they have built in Panama has been on the back of criminal activity."
Meanwhile, two insurance companies, Unat Direct and Norwich Union, have started legal proceedings against the couple for the sums they defrauded.
At Thursday's hearing at Teesside Crown Court, Mr Justice Wilkie, said the couple's two sons, Mark and Anthony, who were unaware their father was still alive, were the "real victims".
'Grief inflicted'
The couple made everyone believe Mr Darwin had drowned in the North Sea off Teesside in 2002.
He reappeared last year claiming he had lost his memory.
But the couple were undone by a photograph of them taken in Panama four years after Mr Darwin disappeared.
Justice Wilkie, said their sons, who gave evidence for the prosecution against their mother, had been left "crushed" by the deception.
He said: "Although the sums involved are not as high as some reported cases, the duration of the offending, its multi-faceted nature and, in particular, the grief inflicted over the years, make this a case which merits a particularly severe sentence."
A compensation hearing to determine how the couple can pay back the Ј250,000 they defrauded will take place at a later date.
(BBC)
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