CAB sells 20 criminal ‘trophy homes' for €4.9m

Sunday World

6 days ago

Buildings sold for total of €4.9m were located in 12 Irish counties and in Lanzarote
Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins believes that 'denying and depriving' is a clear way of sending a message to criminals who splurge millions on properties. He also said putting the properties into the hands of law-abiding citizens is beneficial to communities that may have been overshadowed by a criminal 'controlling the area'.
Cab completed the sale of 20 properties for a total of €4.9m last year. They were seized from criminals in 12 Irish counties, and in Lanzarote. This is an increase on 2023, when the bureau sold 12 houses.
The trend is continuing, as Cab has already made property sales totalling more than €3m this year.
Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins of the Criminal Assets Bureau. Photo: Steve Humphreys
Det Chief Supt Gubbins explained how identifying and calculating the cost of ostentatious renovations and extensions is a crucial part of the work when targeting properties financed through the proceeds of crime.
'The seizure and sale of properties is a very important part of our work at the bureau – it is the ultimate example of denying and depriving the criminal, which is the aim of our work,' he said.
'We rarely get back as much money as what the criminal has put into the property, but this all sends a good message to the local community and shows that we are working in their community.
'We have been thanked by local people when these houses are seized and then sold.
'Often, these properties are in areas where the criminal controls the area – by us taking the properties and taking them out of their communities, we are seriously discommoding and disrupting their activities.
"In the world of organised crime, these individuals cannot just easily set up in another part of the city or country – targeting their homes has a big impact on their criminal enterprises.'
He continued: 'We see that these houses – sometimes referred to as trophy houses – stand out in the local community because of the huge amount of work such as extensions and so on that have happened in the majority of cases. A lot of money has gone into many of the houses and they stand out in the community.
He said that 'trophy houses' as well as 'holidays, cosmetic procedures, designer goods and clothes' are 'all about a display of wealth, status and position in the criminal fraternity'.
'What we are constantly seeing is the people underneath our targets are aspiring to be like them, to have that lifestyle,' he said.
'But often they only have money for a certain period of time and notwithstanding our seizures against them in the main, they are not big savers – very few of them have saving accounts for example, they are spenders.'
The bureau chief said properties are identified by Cab by a number of different methods, including 'our profile network, our own intelligence sources and good citizen's reports'.
Cab seized three properties from David Waldron
News in 90 Seconds - Monday, August 4th
Det Chief Supt Gubbins also spoke about the important role that a panel of independent, professional quantity surveyors provide in the bureau's operations. These are experts at costing buildings from conception through completion. In Cab's case, they survey the targeted property then provide a report that outlines the work that has been done on the property.
'For example, they identify the extensions that have been built on a property and then they break the cost down bit by bit into categories such as fixtures and labour costs,' he said.
'They then submit a report to us that becomes an affidavit that is used in a High Court case. It is very useful to us because primarily in our cases, the criminal asset that is being targeted is a dwelling.'
According to exclusive figures, Dublin had the most property sales by Cab last year, at seven, and Co Kildare was next with two.
Ten other counties and the island of Lanzarote each had a single house sale.
It is understood the sale in Lanzarote was the first time Cab has sold a property abroad.
Sandra Hehir had an apartment in Lanzarote
The Lanzarote property was owned by Sandra Hehir, the sister of Limerick gangland boss Christy Keane, and was used as a holiday home by her.
Hehir (57) was given a two-and-a-half year sentence last year at the Special Criminal Court for money laundering for her brother's gang, after she was caught with €124,000 in crime cash in the attic of her Limerick home in June 2020.
'The Lanzarote property was sold by a local estate agent for €155,000 and with the co-operation of local law enforcement. She agreed that the property be sold in a High Court settlement,'Det Chief Supt Gubbins said.
Three of the properties sold last year were owned by Dublin drugs trafficker David Waldron. The homes were located in Wexford, Cabra and Leixlip.
Investigations established Waldron spent €1.69m on the luxury three-storey Co Wexford mansion located near Gorey after he bought a site at the location for €40,000 in 2014.