A Tayside businessman who avoided jail after a cannabis farm was found in a Forfar church he owned still has almost £85,000 of a £106,000 proceeds of crime confiscation order to pay.
Calum Menzies, from Perth, made his latest appearance at Forfar Sheriff Court last week for an update on progress with payment of the six-figure sum.
Almost four years ago Menzies admitted knowingly permitting the former St James Church in Forfar to be used for the unlawful production of the drug.
More than 100 plants were found in the disused building.
Menzies was subsequently served with the confiscation order and paid £590 on the morning of his latest court appearance.
The court was told the outstanding sum prior to the payment was £85,089.
Menzies was ordered to return to court on January 22 for an update on the payment position.
In August an investigation by The Courier revealed that former skip firm boss Menzies was among a number of criminals who had paid back just a fraction of the amounts ordered by the courts to be seized under proceeds of crime powers.
But the businessman said a “flawed” system had prevented him paying the money because strict background checks had impacted on the prospect of selling property and led to the knock-on collapse of his former Fair City Skip Hire business.
Menzies had also been told earlier this year that his licence for running vehicles for the business was to be revoked after Scotland’s traffic commissioner concluded, following a public inquiry, that she was not confident he would comply with licensing regulations in the future.