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Sunday World
a day ago
- Sunday World
Drug criminal who once escaped jail fights CAB bid to empty bank account
The money was declared the proceeds of crime 11 years ago in case which McInerney had contested. A notorious criminal who once escaped from prison during a hospital visit said that he can't find a solicitor to fight his case against the Criminal Assets Bureau. Charles Darren McInerney from Portlaoise appeared at the High Court where Cab have applied to have €139,156 in a frozen bank account transferred to the State. It was previously heard he had asked to brought to court from the Midlands Prison to contest the move by CAB. Arriving in court with a prison escort he told the sitting judge that his own solicitor doesn't 'do these cases.' The money, which was originally in three separate accounts, was declared the proceeds of crime 11 years ago in case which McInerney had contested. The judge at that time dismissed McInerney's claims as to how the cash was generated as being 'quite unconvincing indeed.' He had denied being involved in crime and initially insisted his only income was from social welfare during the six years CAB found €519,702 had been lodged to his and his wife Margaret's bank account. Another €15,000 in a credit union account he said had come from the sale of a car although no vehicle had been registered to his name. In second affidavit, he said money came from horse breeding and dealing in cars, but these were ruled inadmissible when he failed to appear in court. McInerney said he had been left six horses by his late grandfather when he was 15 years of age. He claimed that from his inheritance he successfully bred horses which he sold 'at various fairs around the country'. Charles Darren McInerney News in 90 Seconds - 7th June Following on from that trade he said he moved into the car trade business and the money in the accounts was income from those businesses, he claimed. The judge said evidence was given by both CAB and senior gardai that McInerney was involved in the illegal drugs trade. He had 27 previous convictions including ones for the possession of illegal drugs as well as assault and animal cruelty. Evidence was given that gardai had found cannabis, a weighing scales and a knife in McInerney's house. He was involved in the sale and supply of controlled substances and the enforcement of debts, according to CAB. There was no evidence of income from any legitimate sources and neither he nor his wife had ever been employed, it was stated. An appeal was lodged with the Supreme Court over the receivership order, but is was withdrawn in 2015 and no appeal made against the order declaring the cash to be the proceeds of crime. Darren McInerney did a runner from custody in 2018 after being brought from the high-security Portlaoise Prison to the nearby regional hospital. The Sunday World previously reported that he had been transferred to the jail from the Midlands prison after an alleged assault on a prison officer. He remained unlawfully at large for a period of time sparking a garda appeal for information. The career criminal once got a five-month suspended sentence in October, 2010, for the ill treatment of animals. He was also ordered not to have ownership of animals at that time, yet despite the order he was later spotted by gardaí on a sulky on at least five occasions including racing while he had a child sitting on his lap. The Cab case has been adjourned until later this month.
RTÉ News
30-05-2025
- RTÉ News
CAB sells Dublin home of convicted robber for €573,000
The Criminal Assets Bureau has sold two homes in Dublin and Laois that were the proceeds of crime for a total of €664,000. The home of the convicted armed robber Stefan Saunders, a semi-detached double-fronted five-bedroom house in Hazelbury Park in Clonee, was sold for €573,000, €228,000 above the asking price. CAB took possession of it five months ago and it sold this week in an online auction. Stefan Saunders and his wife Tammy had lived in the expensively furnished and extended house but the High Court ruled three years ago that it was purchased with the proceeds of crime. The couple failed in two appeals to keep it and then failed in their attempt to have the case heard by the Supreme Court. Saunders was one of the country's most prolific and dangerous armed robbers and was jailed for seven and a half years for an attempted ATM robbery in 2016. The 46-year-old was part of a criminal gang suspected of being involved in several high-profile crimes, including the armed robbery of over €1.8m from a Brinks Allied security van in Artane in Dublin in January 2005. He and his wife then went on "a spending spree" on expensive cars, houses and extensive renovations from April 2005 until 2007. This included a six-week luxury holiday in Orlando with extended family, the purchase of two BMWs, the purchase of the house in Clonee for €360,000 and a €125,000 refurbishment and extension to the house. Stefan Saunders claimed he worked as a plasterer while Tammy claimed she drew a salary from an interior decorating business they owned, claims which were rejected by the High Court. House in Laois sold for €91,000 CAB also sold a house in Portlaoise, Co Laois this week that it seized from a woman who claimed she worked as an escort in Australia. Mary Cash's semi-detached four-bedroom bungalow with a large back garden at 7 Harpur's Lane sold online for €91,000, €1,000 over the asking price. The High Court was told Cash was the wife of Andy Cash, a member of a notorious burglary gang which carried out robberies all over the country. CAB told the court she is believed to be the driver for her husband and the organised crime gang. Over €420,000 was lodged to her bank account over a ten-year period. She claimed she was a lone parent with two children and was separated from her husband. She said she moved to Australia in 2015 and worked as a cleaner, childminder and escort, while her husband did power-washing, tarmacking and gravel work. They earned €150,000, she added. The High Court ruled the house was the proceeds of crime.
Sunday World
27-05-2025
- Sunday World
CAB ‘steps' up case against ‘Mago' after staircase found removed from house
Seized house had staircase, gates and CCTV system removed Gately and his partner spent €440k on renovating the Coolock house Gangland figure James 'Mago' Gately is being targeted again by the Criminal Assets Bureau after the staircase was removed from his house following its seizure by the State. This week, the High Court heard substantial damage was caused to the property in Coolock, north Dublin, before officers moved in to seize it in April. Both Gately and his partner Charlene Lam are now the subject of contempt proceedings as CAB claimed the couple were in breach of a High Court order The Bureau brought a motion for breach of the order this week after previously seeking permission to apply for a committal order. Charlene Lam Counsel for CAB told Judge Alexander Owens, who made the original court order, that when officers arrived they found 'substantial damage' including the missing staircase. Gates and a CCTV camera system had also been removed before gardai arrived to take possession of the house, and ladders had to be used to access the upstairs area. Gately survived being shot and a previous assassination attempt as part of the Kinahan-Hutch feud was foiled by gardai. He was photographed carrying the coffin of Gary Hutch, the victim of the murder which sparked the lethal underworld war. James 'Mago' Gately carries Gary Hutch's coffin The CAB case against Gately started in 2016 after officers who raided his Glin Drive house in Coolock noted that it had been expensively refurbished. It later emerged in the High Court the couple had spent an estimated €440,000 on the house they had bought for €125,000. Mago Gately and his partner Charlene Lam could be found in contempt of court and face fines or imprisonment if they are found to be responsible for the damage. Last June, the house at Glin Drive was declared the proceeds of crime after a long legal wrangle over the property. In April this year it was ruled that €6,000 from any potential sale of the house be returned to Ms Lam. James 'Mago' Gately's home on Glin Drive, which was seized by the CAB Missing front gates at the former home of James 'Mago'Gately on Glin Drive, which was seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. Judge Alex Owens found this amount reflected the contribution she made to mortgage payments from her own legitimate income. In the Criminal Assets Bureau case against Gately, in which a car and a Rolex watch were declared the proceeds of crime, he was described as a senior figure in the Hutch Organised Crime Group. He cut contact with the Kinahans following the 2015 murder of his friend Gary Hutch by the cartel in Spain. Such was Gately's importance, the Kinahan cartel launched two bids to kill him within a matter of weeks in 2017. The first, involving infamous Estonian hitman Imre Arakas, was foiled by gardai after an attempt was made to target Gately in Newry. The second attempt saw Caolan Smyth shoot Gately four times at Clonshaugh Road in north Dublin, including once in the neck. Evidence from CAB also linked Gately to three murders, two of which were in 2010 when he was just 24. He was arrested and questioned over the killing of convicted criminal Aidan Byrne in Dublin, a killing for which Jonathan 'Yuka' Douglas has been convicted and sentenced to life. Gately was also linked by CAB to the killing of infamous gangland figure Eamon 'The Don' Dunne at a pub in Cabra in April 2010. The third murder he has been linked to is that of David Byrne in the attack on the Regency Hotel organised by the Hutch gang. Gately and his partner spent €440k on renovating the Coolock house News in 90 Seconds - May 27th
Sunday World
20-05-2025
- Sunday World
Infamous mob boss's nephew pleads guilty at Special Criminal Court
Christy Keane relative Richard Treacy admits using crime cash to pay for renovations to home The nephew of a Limerick gangland figure has pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to money laundering over renovation work carried out at his home. Richard Treacy (36) from Garryowen, Co. Limerick, this week admitted charges that he allowed the proceeds of crime to be used for work on his Downey Street home. His trial at the Special Criminal Court had been due to last for two weeks but he changed his plea to guilty. He is the latest person connected to mob boss Christy Keane to be convicted over money laundering, after a Garda operation targeted the gang's finances. Treacy is now due to re-appear at the non-jury court in July for sentencing. His first cousin Kieran Keane Jnr is being targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau who say three properties and €100,000 in a bank account are the proceeds of crime. Crime boss Christy Keane Keane Jnr was also mentioned during a criminal case against Dermot 'Plum' McManus, who got a three-year prison sentence for money laundering in January last year. McManus was described as 'close confidant' of crime boss Christy Keane, who is Keane Jnr's uncle. Keane Jnr was also cited as another alleged leading member of the gang. The Keane gang was described as one of the 'most ruthless crime groups in the State' at the Special Criminal Court. As well as 'Plum' McManus, Chirsty Keane's sister Sandra Hehir has also been convicted of money laundering. She got a two-and-a-half-year sentence over €124,000 found in her attic, which was found to be the proceeds of crime. Separately, her son Warren Hehir was convicted of money-laundering offences and sentenced to four years and three months. He admitted that €59,000 spent on renovating his home and a Rolex watch were the proceeds of crime. His wife Vicky Hehir also pleaded guilty to one charge of money laundering over the cash used for the renovations but avoided a prison sentence to allow her to look after their children. A convicted killer, Richard Treacy has been caught up in the violence of Limerick's infamous gangland feuding. He was jailed in 2007 for the manslaughter of Darren Coughlan, who was beaten to death in Limerick in 2005. Then aged 19, Treacy was sentenced to six years in prison along with his cousin Joseph Keane and Shane Kelly, who got seven years in prison. The three men notoriously smiled and winked at people in the public gallery as they were led away to begin serving their sentences. Three years later, Treacy's older brother Daniel was shot dead by John Coughlan, a brother of Darren's who is also believed to have tried to shoot Richard Treacy's uncle Pa Keane. Coughlan was jailed for life after a court heard how Treacy was shot three times in the head and once in the groin at a filling station. A video of the murder was recently played in court during a civil lawsuit brought by a former worker at the shop in which Coughlan took the gun from the shopping bag before opening fire.
Irish Independent
16-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
How Zambia is adopting the Irish CAB approach to tackling fraud and corruption
Today at 13:08 A high-level delegation of the heads of Zambia's criminal justice sector were in Dublin this week to learn how Ireland deals with financial and economic crime. The African state has embarked on an ambitious programme of legal reforms to tackle fraud and corruption by establishing the Criminal Assets Recovery Interagency Bureau (CARIB) which is modelled on the Criminal Assets Bureau.
