Mob boss Daniel Kinahan used a bogus passport in a heroin addict’s name to travel to Dubai in the weeks after the Hutch gang targeted the thug in a botched hit.
It was the second trip to the UAE he made in three months using a fraudulent travel document under the name of Seamus Walsh. Walsh, a 43-year-old carer and GAA volunteer, was before Dundalk District Court yesterday where it was heard he applied for and sold his passport for €2,000 in 2011, before it was used by the gang boss.
The court heard he was “off his head on drugs” and “in the throes of heroin addiction” at the time. Sources have confirmed to The Irish Mirror that Kinahan travelled to the UAE in early September 2015, using the bogus document.
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Just weeks later, Kinahan hitman James Quinn murdered Gerry “The Monk” Hutch’s nephew on the Costa Del Sol on September 24. The second occasion he used it was in mid-November 2015 when he again travelled to the Gulf state.
His trip followed a botched hit attempt on him and other senior gang members, including “Fat” Freddie Thompson and Liam Roe, at the Red Cow Inn on November 6. Gardai believed the Hutch gang were behind the shooting but the Kinahans wrongly blamed David “Daithi” Douglas, who had IRA links, and Darren Kearns who was a convicted drug dealer.
Both men were killed by the Kinahan mob despite having no involvement in the incident. “Fat” Freddie is serving life in jail for his role in the Douglas murder.
Kinahan had the use of the passport in Walsh’s name for six years before the passport office revoked it and flagged it with gardai. Walsh, of Mountain View Crescent in Dundalk, Co Louth, has pleaded guilty to selling his passport contrary to the Passports Act 2008.
At his sentencing hearing in Dundalk Circuit Court yesterday, Detective Garda Feidhlim McKenna, of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, said the Department of Foreign Affairs revoked the passport in October 2017. They contacted gardai in November 2017 regarding the document.
Subsequent investigations established that the passport was dispatched to Walsh in 2011. However, it was heard the supporting documentation used to apply for it - an electricity bill, a drivers’ licence and a bank statement - were all found to be fraudulent.
The picture used did not match that of Walsh’s public services card. Det Gda McKenna said of the image: “This photo belongs to Daniel Joseph Kinahan, a senior figure in organised crime.”
Kinahan, 45, has been previously described as running the “day-to-day operations” of the cartel. The US Government has a $5million bounty on the gangster’s head along with his father Christy Snr, 65, and his brother Christy Jnr, 42.
Det Gda McKenna told the court the passport was used for travel but said he was not in a position to make any further comment on that at this time. In August 2018, Det Gda McKenna and Det Sgt Adrian Murray called to the home of Walsh.
Det Gda McKenna confirmed t upon meeting Walsh, he was not the man in the picture of the passport. Walsh later confirmed that the drivers’ licence used for the passport application was his name and date of birth.
However, he told gardai it was not his picture or signature. He could not explain how an incorrect photo was used. The court heard Walsh “made the case” that he sold his passport to a “Traveller” in 2011, who had offered him €2,000.
In his Garda interviews, he said he “was off his head on drugs” at the time. He was a heroin addict and it had escalated following his father’s death in 2010.
He also claimed: “That Traveller was in and out of the house every
day selling drugs. I was in the house every day.”
Det Gda McKenna confirmed to defence Barrister Ronan O’Carroll that Walsh has no associations with organised crime or Daniel Kinahan. The officer also said it was common in such cases that vulnerable people with addictions issues were approached for passports.
The court was told that Walsh was introduced to heroin in London
and Mr O’Carroll said it was his addiction which was the “underlying cause of this.” He added: “He was a gentleman who was taken advantage of.”
The court heard Walsh has been sober since 2016. While he does not work, he is a full time carer of his 75-year-old mother, who has serious health complications, and an “active member” of the local GAA club. Mr O’Carroll made the case to Judge Dara Hayes that Walsh’s plea was “extraordinarily helpful”.
He claimed but for the admissions, the prosecution would have had a difficult case to prove. Mr O’Carroll said: “He accepted and gave very helpful information about how and why he did what he did.”
Judge Hayes said that while the accused was not aware of who this passport was to be used by, it was obvious that it was going to be used for a highly unlawful act. He asked for three urinalysis tests to confirm Walsh is off drugs. He also asked for an up-to-date report on his mother’s medical condition.
The judge also warned a custodial sentence was a real possibility before he adjourned the hearing until April 25.
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