Conman is told to fork out £500,000

The lavish lifestyle of a Wolverhampton criminal at the centre of a money laundering scam was at an end today after a judge ordered him to sell his assets and fork out £500,000 or face four years in prison.

Roger Quintyne, of Third Avenue, Low Hill, used cash from his criminal activities to buy a house in Barbados, top-of-the-range sports cars and to develop a property empire that included homes across Wolverhampton.

But police today revealed that the result of a seven-year investigation will force him into selling the proceeds of his criminal racket.

It has emerged that the only way the 48-year-old can afford to pay his court bill is by selling his assets, which include a house in Barbados, a property in Coven Heath, and an Aston Martin Vantage.

A probe into Quintyne's dealings started in 2005 after he was stopped by police, who discovered more than £20,000 in the car boot.

An investigation resulted in Quintyne being jailed for 12 months in 2009 for five counts of money laundering.

At Birmingham Crown Court, a judge ordered Quintyne to pay £500,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.