The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has seized a house, livery yard incorporating 20 stables, and 18.35ac of land in Co. Clare following an investigation into an organised criminal gang in the Munster region.
The CAB, in pursuit of its statutory remit, conducted an investigation into an organised criminal gang in the south-west of the country, incorporating William McInerney of Kealderra, Bodyke, Co. Clare, the bureau said.
Arising from that investigation, an application was made to the High Court under the Proceeds of Crime Acts, 1996, targeting various assets in the possession and control of William McInerney, according to the CAB.
In the context of those proceedings, the bureau provided evidence that William McInerney funded the purchase of the subject assets through the activity of the organised criminal gang in the Munster region, according to the CAB.
These proceedings culminated in orders being granted on October 17, 2016, pursuant to Section 3(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act, 1996 as amended, over assets (house, livery yard incorporating 20 stables and 18.35ac of land at Kealderra, Bodyke, Co. Clare) determined to have derived from the proceeds of William McInerney’s criminal conduct, the CAB said.
Land seized
Further orders, pursuant to Section 4 and 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act, 1996 as amended, were granted on April 17, 2024, and a stay was put on those orders until September 2, 2024, according to the CAB.
These orders were made on April 17, 2024, and were contested by William McInerney, with the application of the bureau being successful before Justice Alexander Owens, according to the CAB.
With regard to the house, livery yard and 18.35ac of land, a stay was put on the order until 10:00a.m on September 2, 2024, when the court appointed Receiver, Bureau Legal Officer, Kevin McMeel took possession of, with power to sell the said property by private treaty or public auction and lodge the proceeds of sale into a bank account for the benefit of the Central Fund, the CAB said.
In the course of the aforementioned proceedings, the courts were informed that €223,500 in cash was utilised to fund the purchase of the property in 2012, the source of which were identified as the proceeds of criminal conduct of William McInerney through his activity and association with an organised criminal gang, according to the CAB.
A complex money laundering scheme utilising various bank accounts and mediums in Ireland and Spain was identified and dismantled by the bureau during the course of this investigation by bureau officers, the CAB said.
The receivership order of April 17, 2024, remains the subject of an appeal, according to the CAB.