A BID to claw back cash from a North Yorkshire conman who was jailed for a £4.3 million bank fraud has been postponed until next year.

It was anticipated that an order could be made against Paul Blanchard snr when an application was brought before Teesside Crown Court under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

But after lengthy legal discussions yesterday Judge Mark Gargan adjourned the case ahead of a further four day hearing beginning on April 16 next year.

The 70-year-old Blanchard snr, who was present at court, was a self-styled international corporate consultant who led a globe-trotting lifestyle.

But that was brought crashing down when he was sentenced in 2008 to more than six years jail following a failed attempt to steal £4.3m from an account held by Deutsche Bank, in Dublin, and divert it to a Spanish bank in Marbella, on the Costa del Sol in Spain.

He admitted bank fraud along with two other men who were jailed for four years and two years respectively at Sheffield Crown Court.

Blanchard snr, who previously lived in Heslington, York, also admitted playing a leading role in a £375,000 money laundering scheme and was found guilty of an attempt to obtain a British passport under a false name for a woman.