Christy Kinahan Sr created firms using pen name he developed at Portlaoise

Sunday World

18-05-2025

pseudonym |
Details of the companies under the name Cian Sharkhin, and further background to the pseudonym, have been unearthed
Christy Kinahan Sr
Details of the companies under the name Cian Sharkhin, and further background to the pseudonym, have been unearthed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
Decades before Kinahan Sr fled to Dubai, he dabbled in prison poetry and prose alongside criminals like Dessie O'Hare. He used the name Cian Sharkhin for his writing and editing work while he was incarcerated.
Kinahan Sr was released from prison in 2001, but his pen name lived on.
In April 2002, Cian Sharkhin Developments Limited was created in the United Kingdom, according to company records. It was dissolved five years later.
Following an anonymous tip, ICIJ also discovered that Kinahan Sr used a small Cypriot accountancy firm to create a second company, called Cian Sharkhin Consultants Limited, in 2005.
In a curious twist, records show that when creating the consultancy, Kinahan used the name 'Christopher Vincent Kinaham', swapping the 'n' for an 'm'.
Both Kinahan and Kinaham share the same date of birth on company records, March 23, 1957, according to the documents, and the same UK passport number.
The cartel boss used an address in Vysoudian Street, Paralimni, Cyprus and the phone number of accountant, Demetris Papademetriou, when setting up Cian Sharkhin Consultants Limited.
Cian Sharkhin Consultants Limited has a LinkedIn page which names its owner as Vincent Kinahan.
Mr Papademetriou has a family practice with an office in Paralimni, which is a city of 20,000 people in the south-east of the island state, 110km from the capital Nicosia.
Mr Papademetriou is a graduate of Manchester University and Manchester Business School. His company's slogan is: 'Of course we can!'
Mr Papademetriou's company, DPCA, has provided services for other Kinahan-related companies. Those include D&M Sun Dreams Investments Limited and AB Eureka Property Developers Limited.
DPCA and Mr Papademetriou did not respond to questions from ICIJ.
Christy Kinahan Sr
Investigation links Christy Kinahan's literary pseudonym to money laundering companies
D&M Sun Dreams was created in 2005 by Christopher Kinahan's son and fellow cartel leader, Daniel, and his associate Matthew Dunne.
AB Eureka Property Developers Limited was established the same year by a Christopher Vincent Kinaham, again with an 'm'.
Previously, ICIJ has reported how Kinahan abbreviated his name to Christopher Vincent to disguise himself and used his initials CVK when naming several companies, such as CVK Investments.
He has lived in the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Cyprus and elsewhere, and reportedly speaks Spanish, French, Dutch and Russian.
He is married to a Turkish national, Neslihan Yildirim, whom he is believed to have first met in the Netherlands and reportedly lived with in Zimbabwe before settling in Dubai.
In 2008, Christopher Kinahan and a business partner, Cornelius Fuchs, were arrested by Belgian Police and jailed for money laundering.
At that time, Kinahan reportedly gave his address as Pernera in Cyprus, 6.4km from Paralimni, where he and his son set up separate companies at the same accountancy practice.
The Kinahans are believed to be in Dubai, where authorities have frozen Kinahan assets and blocked the sale of property owned by Kinahan family members and companies under sanctions.
But as ICIJ reported in May 2024, the sanctions do not include some spouses and partners, which renders them less effective.
The work of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) can be found at www.icij.org