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Showbiz drug dealer and ‘significant player’ in Kinahan gang fails to stop CAB seizures

Adam Keatinge had €10k in €500 notes stashed in his underpants

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A showbiz drug dealer and ‘significant player’ in the ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson gang has failed in an appeals court bid to stop his stash of gold bars, a house and €10,000 in cash being seized.

Last year, promoter and DJ Adam Keatinge lost a proceeds of crime case taken by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) – but then lodged an appeal after firing his legal team.

At the High Court this week Keatinge’s CAB case was mentioned, where it was heard that his appeal had been refused by the three-judge panel

It was also heard that disgraced DJ has indicated that he now plans to take his case to the Supreme Court.

The convicted drug dealer, who has previously represented himself in court, was not present during the brief hearing.

At a court hearing earlier this year where CAB sought an order to seize the property which had been declared the proceeds of crime, Keatinge said he had lodged an appeal.

He also asked the judge if there was now a stay on his home in Ellistown, Co Kildare, being seized until the Court of Appeal had dealt with his case.

The CAB case has effectively been adjourned until Keatinge’s appeals have run their course.

Keatinge has denied the allegations in the CAB case despite his previous arrest and conviction after being caught with a kilo of cocaine.

It emerged last year that one of Keatinge’s roles in the Kinahan cartel-linked gang had been to rent properties which were then used by known criminals.

Keatinge, also known as Marcus Lane and Michael Keating, was caught in Northern Ireland in June 2016 in a van with €60,000 on his way to Belfast airport to fly to Amsterdam.

He also had €10,000 in €500 notes in his underpants when arrested by the PNSI along with three other men.

The arrests in Northern Ireland and evidence found on phones kickstarted the investigation by CAB, which had previously probed the Dubliner’s financial dealings.

In CAB’s case against him, a Detective Inspector said Keatinge was “a player of significance in the Freddie Thompson gang”.

While Keatinge had denied the claim, the officer, in a replying affidavit to the High Court, said Keatinge did not “contest the evidence” on his connections with the crime gang.

Keatinge, a music events coordinator, had claimed CAB’s investigation was incomplete and rejected the claims that money used to pay for the properties came from the proceeds of crime.

He claimed that businesses he operated, FNO Promotions Ltd and Ace of Clubs in Belfast, were cash based.

Keatinge previously told the Sunday World the case against him was “fabricated”.