crime pays | 

Big and small, they all tend to fall when CAB comes to call

Some of Ireland’s most notorious criminals were hit where it hurts in 2023 – their pockets.

Today at 15:00

THE CRIMINAL Assest Bureau rolled up property, jewellery and cash from Ireland’s most infamous gangsters in 2023 and finished the year off with a blow-out auction that saw huge numbers sign up for the on-line sale.

The Kinahan Cartel’s No 1 man in Ireland, Ross Browning, finally handed over his property to CAB who also took the house he bought for his mother.

While the €1.2 million value of the case might seem like a drop in the ocean of cocaine cash controlled by the Kinahans, it sends the message it is hard to flash it around on these shores.

The High Court case revealed how Browning tried to distribute some of his wealth through his family and front companies but the scheme didn’t stand up to scrutiny.

Nothing was in Ross Browning’s name but Judge Alex Owens concluded almost all the money ultimately came from the man CAB described as senior Kinahan Cartel lieutenant.

Another Kinahan linked-criminal was also dragged into the spotlight by the Criminal Assets Bureau when named in the case against a several Chinese people based in Ireland.

CAB alleged they had used the Daigou system to launder Irish gangs’ drug money by buying luxury goods which were then sold off back in China.

Ciaran ‘Sam’ O’Sullivan was described as a key link between the Irish gangs and the man CAB say was the head of the money laundering operation.

The Sunday World previously revealed how the south county Dublin ‘posh boy’ had been a long-time associate of Christy Kinahan sr.

He wasn’t the only ‘posh boy’ targeted by CAB with Marcus Sweeney’s ‘hedge fund’ for the infamous drugs gang known as The Family getting sold off.

The 10 acres of farmland in Co Westmeath went under the hammer after it had been declared the proceeds of crime in case that revealed the Celtic Tiger’s close links to serious criminals and how at one point here was a serious threat to his life.

The different links between gangs across Ireland were also revealed during other CAB cases against drug-dealers.

Sligo drug dealer Ian McMorrow, who later died in motor-bike crash, didn’t challenge a CAB bid to have his car and cash declared the proceeds of crime last May.

The case has highlighted the ties between the Irwin Organised Crime gang and the gang previously headed up by convicted gangster Barry Young with connections all over Ireland and abroad.

Judge Alex Owens said this week it was “reasonable” to believe the VW Golf, two diamond rings along with €5,000 in €50 notes were “funded by the drugs trade.”

Cases come to the Criminal Assets Bureau when investigators start pulling a thread that keeps getting longer and longer and finally arrives at the door of a serious criminal.

When Mary Cash’s young child was spotted running from a Kilkenny shop with an unpaid-for toy local gardaí found documents that lead to a lock up and more documents.

Unravelling the trail, it led to the couple’s house in Portlaoise which has now been declared he proceeds of crime along with designer handbags, jewellery, cash and a car.

CAB said she acted as a getaway driver on occasions for her husband who was part of a notorious burglary gang involved in serious crime.

Her claims she had earned the money as an escort in Australia while her husband worked at paving didn’t persuade the court.

The judgement in the case against Bawn Motors, a firm set up to launder Limerick cash for the city’s drug lords, highlighted the massive investigation into the city’s underworld.

It highlighted how mob boss Christy Keane met with under-world businessmen who also dealt with rivals from the McCarthy-Dundon faction.

Members of Keane’s family are now the target of CAB with hearings in the case likely to be heard in the New Year.

The relentless nature of CAB and its high court actions was obvious back in January when cross-border smuggler David Patrick Belton was told to hand over a property or face going to jail.

Members of the family in court nodded their agreement bringing an end to a case that started in 2008.

It will be of little comfort for those on CAB’s list in 2024 that such cases are pursued to the bitter end how ever long it takes.