Thanh Huy Nguyen loses bid to claim cash from sale of Belgrave crop house

A man who owned a house that was turned into a drug den —which was raided by police who found 300kg of cannabis plants — has lost his bid to claim any profits from the sale of the Belgrave property.

Thanh Huy Nguyen tried to prove to the court he had no knowledge of the crop house, but a judge disagreed.

A man who owned a house that was turned into a drug den has lost his bid to claim any profits from the sale of the Belgrave property.

Thanh Huy Nguyen tried to prove to the court he had no knowledge of the crop house, but Judge Philip Misso disagreed and ordered cash from the sale of the property be forfeited.

Court documents revealed Mr Nguyen’s house was raided by police who found a hydroponic set-up in several rooms connected to an electrical bypass, and seized 387 cannabis plants weighing 300kg on October 3, 2017.

MAN JAILED OVER BUMPER CANNABIS CROP IN TRUGANINA

KLEVIS GJYLA JAILED AFTER CROP SITTING IN FERNTREE GULLY

But last month the court heard Mr Nguyen claimed he had previously bought the house to accommodate Vietnamese relatives who were coming to visit him in Australia.

He said when his relatives changed their minds about travelling to Melbourne he decided to rent the property, which he advertised for lease on Facebook.

According to documents, Mr Nguyen said he then deleted the advertisement after renting it out.

He claimed he did not visit the property during the term of the lease while he met with the tenant or another person once a month at a Springvale shopping centre to collect rent payments.

In Mr Nguyen’s sworn affidavit it wasn’t until the tenant stopped paying rent that he tried to contact the man and visited the property, only to find it had been raided and “assumed” the man had been arrested.

HOUSESITTER SPRUNG CARING FOR 84 CANNABIS PLANTS IN RINGWOOD

150KG OF CANNABIS FOUND AT BLACKBURN NORTH HOUSE

But Judge Misso said he was not satisfied Mr Nguyen had demonstrated a lack of responsibility.
“I think the evidence points to the applicant purchasing the property for the purpose of allowing it to be set up as a crop house,” Judge Misso said.

“He needed to give a reason for purchasing it.

“He needed to create distance between the persons actually setting up a crop house and cultivating the cannabis which he did by being creative, entering into a lease.”

Judge Misso said Mr Nguyen was “wilfully blind” to the cultivation of cannabis at the property.

He said money from the sale of the property would be forfeited.