A convicted drug dealer who was told he must hand over £185,000 of his ill-gotten gains from a £2.2 million cannabis operation has lost an appeal against the order.
Kuldip Singh Hayre was given a six-year sentence at Leicester Crown Court in April, 2009, after he admitted conspiracy to supply Class C drugs.
Hayre, of Nottingham Road, Loughborough, also pleaded guilty to possessing Class A drugs and having a prohibited weapon.
The 45-year-old was caught out in an investigation into a gang which dealt cannabis in wholesale quantities to lesser dealers in the East Midlands in 2006 and 2007.
The gang was said to have pocketed £2.2 million from the operation, with Hayre himself receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds from his role as distributor.
Making a confiscation order in 2010, a Birmingham Crown Court judge said he was convinced that Hayre had hidden assets which meant he could hand over £185,000 of this money.
Some cash and a car were recovered, leaving him with £179,066 to come up with, or face extra time behind bars in default of payment.
Hayre claimed police had found a safety deposit box to which he had access and thousands of pounds had been stolen from it.
But Lord Justice Laws, who considered Hayre's arguments with Mr Justice Irwin and Mr Justice Cranston, said that could not affect the validity of the confiscation order.
"Even if this all were true, it wouldn't affect the legality of the confiscation order, because it doesn't touch the finding of hidden assets," he said. "One supposes it confirms it.
"The Independent Police Complaints Commission has investigated the applicant's allegation and the impugned officers have been entirely exonerated.
"This application is entirely hopeless and is refused."