A drug dealer must sell his own home and pay back £135k after being part of a gang which imported cannabis from the USA.
Robert Parsonage, 42, of Rostherne Avenue in Ellesmere Port, was found guilty for offences of money laundering linked to the importation of cannabis. An investigation by Cheshire Police found 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 made to the court and his assets were seized ahead of the criminal trial. The court found Parsonage gained a total of £211,281.99 from his six years of criminal conduct.
READ MORE: Luxury life of drug boss who recruited his own family to do his dirty work
The total amount he has been ordered to pay is £135,143.43, 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.
Raymond Holding, of Parklands View in Little Sutton, was at the head of the operation and in charge of sourcing and importing large quantities of cannabis from California. The 42-year-old recruited members of his family and several vulnerable people in Ellesmere Port as the recipients for the large number of cannabis orders.
In February 2018 two packages containing cannabis destined for Holding were intercepted by the UK Border Agency.
Holding was jailed for three years and three months at Chester Crown Court on 18 October 2020 after admitting to conspiracy to supply cannabis, money laundering and conspiracy to import cannabis.
The investigation discovered Holding was running a lucrative business that lead to him leading a lavish lifestyle.
It enabled him to purchase high value watches, including four Rolex watches with a total value of around £28,000 and a Patek Phillippe watch worth approximately £25,000. Officers also seized £10,000 in cash from his address.
Parsonage was given a two year suspended sentence for offences of money laundering linked to the importation of cannabis.
