A British Army sergeant made a tidy STG185,825 ($A381,000) in just 12 weeks by selling booze to thousands of soldiers in Iraq, a court has heard.
Finance Sergeant Mark McKay, 35, set up his personal "retail facility" when he was deployed for the war between February and May 2003, The Independent reports.
Military police arrested him the following year when STG100,175 ($A205,380) allegedly stolen from an SAS cash office was found hidden in plant pots outside his home in Northern Ireland, where he was posted after leaving the elite unit.
McKay denies stealing Ministry of Defence funds.
Defence lawyer John Mackenzie told McKay's court martial that the profits his client made from his alcohol shop were achieved by buying cases of beer for STG10 ($A20.50) and selling them on to coalition troops for up to STG50 ($A102.50).
The trial was told that his takings quickly jumped from STG1,502 ($A3,080) in his first week of business to a STG16,228 ($A33,270) profit in week six, The Independent report said.
"His estimate is that over the 12 weeks this venture made a $US371,000 ($A381,000) profit," Mackenzie said.
The court has heard how McKay put STG100,175 ($A205,380) of his "profits" in a safe before transferring it to a terracotta plant pot outside his front door in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland.
The booze sales were not disclosed to McKay's unit quarter master.
The case continues.
