Watches worth €62,000 seized from Kinahan bagman as he admits money laundering

The seven luxury men’s and women’s 18ct gold watches by makers including Raymond Well, Audemars Piguet and Rolex have a combined value of €62,000.

A Kinahan cartel bagman has consented to seven luxury watches seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau as part of a follow-up search into money laundering to be sold by the bureau.

Jason Reed, 42, who was jailed in 2021 after he admitted to money laundering and possessing the proceeds of crime relating to almost €400,000 in Drogheda in 2020, consented to the disposal order for the watches, the High Court heard yesterday.

Similarly, his wife Charlotte consented to a car in her name, also seized by the bureau, be sold off too.

The seven luxury men’s and women’s 18ct gold watches by makers including Raymond Well, Audemars Piguet and Rolex have a combined value of €62,000. The bureau said the assets were acquired by the proceeds of crime.

Previously, Judge Alex Owens said they had “insufficient income” to have got them legitimately.

The judge added, having read through the evidence, it was apparent all the watches were “a means of money-laundering” and a way of holding wealth.

The watches were among a total of 14 luxury watches seized by the CAB in follow up searches after Reed and his co-accused Thomas Rooney, 53, and Rooney’s former partner Catherine Dawson, 44, were arrested for transporting over €400,000 in cash by members of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau at The Spar shop on Donore Road in Drogheda in May 2020.

Yesterday the High Court heard that the latter seven luxury watches, worth €90,000 are the property of Rooney and Dawson and “they have not entered any agreement,” for the disposal order.

Reed, 42, of Maelduin, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath was sentenced to seven years imprisonment by the Special Criminal Court for laundering over €400,000 in cash for a criminal organisation.

Rooney, of Betaghstown Wood in Bettystown, Meath was sentenced to six years in prison while Ms Dawon received a fully suspended sentence.