Daniel Kinahan sanctioned “a number of murders”, the High Court was told yesterday – as it gave the Criminal Assets Bureau permission to seize a house he owns.
The claim was made in an affidavit by the head of the Garda Drugs and organised Crime Bureau. It’s the first time a senior officer has publicly made this accusation.
Det Chief Supt Seamus Boland said the 45-year-old cartel boss gave the go-ahead for killings as part of the Hutch-Kinahan feud. High Court judge Mr Michael MacGrath ruled a five-bedroom property in Saggart, south Dublin, valued at €750,000 in 2013 and “likely to be worth a lot more now”, was deemed to be proceeds of crime.
Read more: Tallaght Hospital tells public to avoid A&E as department at 'full capacity'
The house at Coldwater Lakes near Tallaght is the first property seized from Kinahan after it was found to be the proceeds of crime, namely drug-trafficking. Ms Shelley Horan BL, acting for the CAB, said yesterday it was “very telling” no one had come forward to claim ownership for such a “valuable property”.
She added: “This is an attempted repayment of funds to the Kinahan Organised Crime Group that wasn’t properly effected.” Ms Horan said CAB’s view was it was “highly improbable” Kinahan would contest these proceedings “because that would involve him acknowledging an involvement in a property he has hitherto sought to conceal”.
The High Court heard in July CAB officers had written to Kinahan at two separate addresses believed linked to him in Dubai but he had not responded. Ms Horan informed the court yesterday that service was already effected on Kinahan and asked the court to deem the service on Kinahan “good” despite the cartel boss “not communicating directly” with the bureau.
Mr Justice MacGrath said he was satisfied Kinahan could not but be aware about the proceedings before the High Court and that all reasonable efforts had been made to serve him. The High Court previously heard it is alleged Kinahan and criminal Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh gave the now jailed businessman Jim Mansfield Jnr, 54, two suitcases containing €4.5million, to be invested in property for the cartel.
That deal collapsed when Mansfield’s finances suffered during an economic downturn but it is alleged Mansfield Jnr later reached an agreement to repay them by giving them a house at Coldwater Lakes in Saggart. At a previous hearing in April, CAB said Kinahan has effectively owned the property since 2014.
Det Supt Boland said in his affidavit Kinahan had played an “integral part” in importing controlled drugs and weapons to Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe, as well as money laundering. He said the crime boss became a “household name” after the shooting at the Regency hotel in February 2016, in which David Byrne was killed.
The senior detective also outlined in an affidavit the evidence gathered to show that Kinahan lived in the property. The property was searched by gardai on January 29, 2015.
Former international boxer Matthew Macklin was in the house at the time of the search and paraphernalia connected to management company MGM was found. The court heard Mr Macklin was courteous but declined to answer any questions.
CAB believes Kinahan lived in the house as a passport in his name and also an Aer Lingus baggage sticker in his name were located during a search. A Ryanair boarding pass in the name of Christopher Kinahan, Daniel’s younger brother, was found on an iPad in the house.
Read more: Kinahan cartel mobster filmed hanging out with Premier League football manager
Documentation belonging to James Quinn, who has 70 recorded convictions in Ireland and who is serving a 22-year sentence in Spain for the murder of Gary Hutch, was also found.
Ms Horan said that during the search on January 29, 2015, €3,850 in cash was also located in a hidden compartment behind a safe in the back bedroom, where documents belonging to Kinahan were also found. The court heard it is likely that the cash also belongs to Kinahan.
The court heard that the property and cash were both in the control and possession of Daniel Kinahan “but namely Mr Kinahan” and that Kavanagh was acting as his agent. Regarding service, Ms Horan said that letters sent to Kinahan by Detective Garda Declan Fitzgerald were returned to the bureau and then served on him again in September by registered post.
Read more: Gardai deal blow to Daniel Kinahan's gang after seizing drugs worth €2 million
She said the detective was satisfied that Kinahan had access to these addresses and that a third address relating to a passport application was also used. Gardai also called two phone numbers that Kinahan put on a recent passport application but got no response. They also sent an email to an email address belonging to him.
Mr Justice MacGrath said he was satisfied that Kinahan could not but be aware about the proceedings before the High Court and that all reasonable efforts had been made by the bureau to serve him. Referring to Kavanagh, who is currently serving a 21-year custodial sentence in the UK for conspiring to import class A and B drugs, Ms Horan said that he had been visited three times in prison to see if he wished to make an appearance and engage a solicitor but that each time he replied “no comment”.
Ms Horan submitted that Kavanagh, who is believed to be an international drug trafficker and close associate of Kinahan, has been duly served, was fully aware of proceedings and did not appear to contest the case. The court heard yesterday that the criminal organisation took hold of the property in 2014, whereby €4.5 million in cash was given to Mansfield Jnr to be invested in property.
Read more: CAB to serve court papers on Daniel Kinahan by registered post after discovering addresses
When the investment “turned sour” and Mansfield Jnr “couldn’t make good” on the deal, assets were transferred to the Kinahan Organised Crime Group to repay these funds. Ms Horan outlined that Martin Byrne, who is now in the Witness Protection Programme and who was recruited to head up security of the Mansfield family, was interviewed by gardai in 2018.
Mr Byrne said the Kavanaghs were looking for a return on their monies. He also said that a party was held in in a bar at the back of a hotel on Good Friday in 2009 where four persons including convicted murderet “Fat” Freddie Thompson and Kavanagh arrived. Jim Mansfield Jnr gave instructions they were to be given “VIP treatment” for the night, the court heard. Two large suitcases with the cash were handed over by the four men the following day.
Mr Byrne told CAB that Mansfield Jnr said: “Even though I was partying [last night], I was still making money.” Mr Byrne said that threatening and abusive calls were later made and there was a lot of pressure on Jim Mansfield Jnr to pay the debt. He said the house at Coldwater Lakes “was offered as part payment for the cash paid”.
Read more: Daniel Kinahan flees Dubai bolthole and searches for safe-haven in Asia
Mr Byrne said Kavanagh was handed over the keys to the house in April or May 2014 and that Jim Mansfield Jnr had nothing to do with the house after this. “I believe the Kinahans particularly Daniel owns Coldwater Lakes as he stayed at the property and got the house arising out of the suitcases,” said Mr Byrne.
The High Court also heard that a close friend and best man for Kinahan, who is now living in the house at Coldwater Lakes but had never paid rent, was contacted in March of this year and informed that the bureau needed to speak to Kinahan regarding the High Court application. This man indicated to the bureau that he did not want to be involved but said that he had “reached out” to Kinahan and would do so again but could not confirm if Kinahan would contact gardai.
CAB has been trying to serve papers on Kinahan since last April and the bureau must serve papers on the various respondents in the case before it can seize the property. In yesterday’s ruling, Mr Justice MacGrath said this was an application under section 3 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 in respect of two assets.
Read more: Fears 'The Family' will become Ireland's biggest drug gang after Kinahan crackdown
He said CAB had conducted a “thorough investigation” of the matter and that he had considered all 28 of the “copious amounts” of affidavits. The judge said he was satisfied that Daniel Kinahan and Thomas Kavanagh are the persons in control of the property and the €3,850 seized, that “directly or indirectly constitute the proceeds of crime”.
The judge said he was satisfied that the two respondents had been duly served, are aware of yesterday’s proceedings and that they had not attended court yesterday nor appointed representatives on their behalf. “In those circumstances there is no contravening evidence to the court,” he added.
Mr Justice MacGrath yesterday granted CAB a section 3 order which allows it to seize the house and the court will appoint a receiver at the next hearing on November 15.
Last July, the High Court heard that Daniel Kinahan had until October 13 to decide whether he wanted to challenge the CAB in its attempt to dispose of the south Dublin property linked to the cartel boss and to Jim Mansfield Jnr.
At that hearing, Ms Horan told the High Court that attempts had been made to serve papers at business and residential addresses linked to Kinahan in Dubai. Ms Horan said the bureau did not yet have confirmation that Kinahan had received the papers concerning the property at Coldwater Lakes in Saggart, near Tallaght but that they did “not anticipate a reaction” from Kinahan.
Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh, she said, had already been served papers while in prison in the UK. Jim Mansfield Jnr and his brother Patrick Joseph Mansfield have already consented to an order waiving any claim over the property.
The bureau has been trying to serve papers on Kinahan for several months and in June said they had discovered addresses for him in Dubai that were published in a US Treasury press release.
READ NEXT:
- Permission granted for major €10m 'transformation' of Balbriggan town centre
- Trinity students demand 'drastic' reform during cost of living protest
UEFA and Scottish police to investigate video of Irish players singing pro-IRA song
All the Dublin restaurants, cafes and pubs that have sadly closed in recent weeks
Stoneybatter named one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox
