Property developer who made 320,000 from double life sprints away from questions [Video]

A property developer who made more than £320,000 from an illegal drug operation will have to pay back less than a sixth of his ill-gotten gains. Matthew Cleary and his accomplice Mikel Kujtila were involved in cannabis factories in and around Cardiff in a conspiracy thought to have involved more than 100kg of the Class B drug.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Cleary, 35, was living in a “high-spec” home containing large flat-screen TVs in most rooms and luxury watches worth as much as £40,000. He enjoyed golfing at the Algarve’s exclusive Monte Rei club and had amassed a collection of high-value clothing and trainers. But his wealth was not just the fruit of property work which, he later admitted, only earned him around £35,000 a year.

Police discovered Cleary’s involvement in a drug ring and in December 2022 he was handed a 32-month jail term for the conspiracy to supply cannabis. In a proceeds …