An ex-UK Ministry of Defense official was sentenced to 30 months in prison after he was found guilty of accepting kickbacks of cash and cars to help secure lucrative contracts in Saudi Arabia.

Jeffrey Cook, 67 years-old, was convicted of misconduct in public office between 2004 and 2008 last in March. Prosecutors said he hid more than $87,294 of gifts in return for contracts given to the Saudi Arabian National Guard. This was while he was on secondment from the government to a Airbus SE unit.

“You made a personal gain at the expense of the public purse,” Judge Simon Picken said at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Friday. “This offense is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.”

Cook was separately acquitted of corruption charges alongside another defendant John Mason, the ex-joint owner of GPT Special Project Management Ltd., where corrupt payments were allegedly made through.