A WOMAN involved in a £5m plot to import thousands of Japanese cars has had her six-figure confiscation order upheld at the appeal court.

Cherry Gunyon pleaded guilty to 11 counts of using a false instrument with intent at Maidstone Crown Court in January 2003 and received a 200-hour community punishment order.

Gunyon, of Burnham Road, Dartford, was also given a £147,000 confiscation order at a later court hearing and ordered to serve 27 months in default of payment.

The 60-year-old claimed her partner Keith Chapman, who died in 2004, played the leading role in the scam and she was just his "minion."

Chapman had admitted the same 11 offences as Gunyon but was never sentenced due to the onset of his terminal illness.

Gunyon's task was to fill out various forms required in order to register the imported cars with the DVLA, falsely stating that the cars were for personal use, although they were really intended for sale in the UK.

Justice Treacy, who upheld the confiscation order at London's Appeal Court yesterday, said the deception had netted them a "substantial financial advantage."

The confiscation order challenge by Gunyon was reached largely on an agreed basis, said the judge, but Gunyon claimed she had been wrongly advised to agree the figures.

Mr Justice Treacy, sitting with Lord Justice Hughes and Mr Justice Mackay, criticised the "inordinate delay" in her appeal since the order was made three years ago.

He added that Gunyon had made an informed decision at the time and did not appear to have been pressured into agreeing the order.

"We consider there is no merit in this appeal," he concluded.