Man loses £73,000 of his ill-gotten gains after importing cannabis from the USA

A man has been ordered to pay back £135,000 of his ill-gotten gains after he was part of an organised crime group that imported cannabis from the United States of America.

Robert Parsonage, aged 42, of Rostherne Avenue in Ellesmere Port, was convicted last year for offences of money laundering linked to the importation of cannabis, where he received a two years suspended sentence. 

An investigation by Cheshire Constabulary's Economic Crime Unit identified he had large amounts of money in his bank accounts and that he owned his own property having bought it  for a cash sum of £29,000 in 2016.

An application was then made to the court and these assets were restrained prior to the criminal trial to secure them against dissipation. 

The order amount of £211,281.99 was the value of the Parsonage's benefit from his criminal conduct over the last six years.

The total amount he has been ordered to pay is £135,143.43.

This is an accumulation of all the assets he currently holds and made up of the house he owns, the money in his bank accounts and high value Rolex watches seized during the strike phase of the Op Saigon investigation. 

Parsonage has three months to sell any property not already held by Cheshire Constabulary - including his house.

If he fails to meet this he would have to return to court and a custodial sentence would be imposed.