Police found £82,000 in cash hidden under boxes of dog food after stopping a van on a Lanarkshire motorway.
They also seized a signed Mike Tyson boxing glove and a Barcelona football shirt.
Van driver Ronald Appleby, 60, who claimed to know nothing about the money, walked free from Airdrie Sheriff Court with a 12-month supervision order.
He must also carry out 135 hours of unpaid community work.
Appleby, of Oak Road, Cumbernauld, admitted possessing criminal property - namely £82,400 - on the M74 southbound near Blackwood and elsewhere.
Van owner James Clark, 37, and John Ashcroft, 55, both of Baillieston, had their not guilty pleas to the charge accepted.
The court heard police officers stopped the Ford Transit van in September 2016 as part of "an ongoing investigation“.
Kevin Jarvis, prosecuting, said: “The accused Appleby was the sole occupant of the vehicle.
“The van was searched and officers recovered latex gloves and several mobile phones.
“The cash was in plastic bags under boxes of dog food in the rear of the van.
“Police also recovered a signed Barcelona football top and a boxing glove signed by former world champion Mike Tyson.”
Appleby told officers he had rented the van from his friend Clark and was going to London to pick up his daughter and grandchild and bring them back to Scotland.
The prosecutor added: “He said he was unaware of the cash and couldn’t comment on how it came to be in the van.”
It’s not clear why the case took so long to reach court.
Sheriff Fergus Thomson ordered confiscation of the £82,400.
Appleby’s lawyer, Archie Hill, said his client had “no difficulty” with that.
He told the court: “I have no claim whatsoever on that money.”
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