A solicitor whose lavish lifestyle included driving a Lamborghini worth more than £80,000 was jailed last week for four years and eight months after a joint investigation by the police and Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Benjamin Cornelius, 37, was convicted at Cardiff Crown Court of money laundering and mortgage fraud amounting to more than £650,000 on behalf of drug dealer David Carl Richards.

The jury heard that Cornelius disguised his involvement in the money laundering and fraud, misleading his then employer, law firm William Parry of Swansea, as well as the various financial institutions involved in the property purchases.

Police raided Cornelius’s home in October 2009, and his assets were restrained by court order so that he could not sell them while the regional asset recovery team worked with the SRA to discover how much he had profited from his crimes.

He sold the Lamborghini in breach of the court order.

Richards was convicted of drug trafficking in July 2010 and is now serving a 12-year sentence.

Detective superintendent Chris Dodd of Wales-wide police taskforce Tarian said: ‘Without dishonest solicitors, accountants and financial advisers, criminals would find it much harder to hide or try to legitimise their criminal property... We are grateful for the invaluable assistance of the SRA.’