A CRIMINAL who laundered money - hoarding cash and designer watches in his loft - has been forced to hand over £740,000.

An investigator has spent the last two years tracking down the assets of 42-year-old Robert Sandford after he was arrested following a police raid at his home in Bolton Road, Hunger Hill.

Inside the modest semi-detached property, officers found cocaine worth £450, cash amounting to £454,000 and designer watches, later valued at a total of £200,000.

Sandford subsequently pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to conceal, convert and possess criminal property and possessing a class A drug.

He claimed he had been keeping the hoard for Blackburn jeweller John Marr to help him avoid paying tax.

In November 2013, he was jailed for 18 months for the crime.

The cash found at the house was seized and forfeited by the courts and Greater Manchester Police financial investigator Tony Wood began examining Sandford's finances.

In a two year investigation, he discovered Sandford had several bank accounts in the UK and Turkey, a house in Turkey and several properties in the Bolton area.

At a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing at Bolton Crown Court, the Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Judge Timothy Clayson ruled Sandford had made £286,000 from his offending.

His assets were found to match this sum and so he was ordered to pay £286,000 within the next six months or face a further three years in prison.

The amount means a total of £740,000 has been taken from Sandford since his arrest.

DCI Richard Jackson, of Bolton Police, welcomed the outcome of the hearing.

"It is recognised that the public rightly place a great importance on police stripping assets from criminals who have damaged their communities," he said.

"The case against Robert Sandford clearly demonstrates how seriously we take this expectation."