Tanning studio drugs boss made £2.5m, court hears

Darren Bradley, who ran Elite Tanning and Beauty Ltd in High Street, Bilston, flaunted his wealth and bought a string of properties and flash cars, including a Bentley, Audi A3 and Mitsubishi Warrior. The 44-year-old made a total of £2,564,318 as a result of a criminal enterprises that saw him convicted of conspiracy to supply cannabis and fraud, Birmingham Crown Court heard today. But prosecutor Mr Andrew Wallace said the amount of money being sought as part of today's Proceeds of Crime hearing was £600,594, the only realisable assets.

See also: Eight years for tanning shop boss

Mr Wallace said: "The prosecution say the money was made through Mr Bradley's criminal enterprise and not through his legitimate tanning studio business." The court heard that from March 2004 in the region of £1.2m had been deposited into bank accounts linked to Bradley. He also owned properties in Wolverhampton, including a house on Penn Road, a tanning business on Stafford Road and a house on Manor Road, worth in the region of £105,000. The court heard that a house was also bought by Bradley for his mother.

In total, the prosecution claim that Bradley benefitted to the tune of £567, 958 as a result of property that he owned. The court was told he also had financial connections to a gym and a cafe in Dudley.

Earlier this year Bradley, of Penn Road, Gospel End, had 10 weeks added to an eight-year jail term given to him in 2011 after he was unmasked as an armed cannabis dealer. It emerged that while in prison he had struck a deal with a fellow prisoner and orchestrated a fake goods racket from his cell. The case continues.