Some of the State's wealthiest developers could face the confiscation of assets valued at hundreds of millions of euro following the granting of a High Court order to the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) freezing lands worth €61 million that, it is claimed, were rezoned through planning corruption, write Conor Lally and Paul Cullen
The lands, at Carrickmines, south Dublin, at the centre of yesterday's ruling is owned by businessman and arcade owner Jim Kennedy and solicitor John Caldwell, through Jackson Way Properties Ltd.
Cab's most senior officer, Det Chief Supt Felix McKenna, told the court the lands had been rezoned in 1997 from agricultural to industrial after former government press secretary Frank Dunlop bribed councillors to secure their support in a rezoning vote.
The vote increased the value of the land by €53 million, from almost €8 million to €61 million.
Amendments last year to the Proceeds of Crime Act, under which Cab operates, empowered the bureau to confiscate the proceeds of corruption and not just crime.
The Jackson Way case is regarded as a test case by Cab, The Irish Times understands.
Bureau officers have drawn up a list of future target individuals that the planning tribunal has heard made millions from planning corruption. These cases will be pursued on the same basis as the case initiated yesterday.
Should these cases succeed, as informed sources believe they will, the money realised by the bureau would dwarf the biggest settlements it has reached with gangland criminals since its inception 10 years ago.
Cab intends to use Frank Dunlop as a "star witness" against a number of developers on whose behalf he says he bribed councillors. It has interviewed Mr Dunlop repeatedly and taken a number of formal statements from him.
Bureau officers have also closely studied his evidence to the tribunal, where Mr Dunlop has alleged he paid money to councillors in relation to more than 20 different rezonings.
In about half of these cases, he says the developer knew he would be making payments.
The development for which he made the biggest payments, almost €300,000, was Quarryvale, developed by Owen O'Callaghan as Liffey Valley shopping centre after it was rezoned in 1993.
He also claims to have made payments to councillors in respect of other rezonings put forward by Mr Kennedy and Mr Caldwell, although these have not yet been investigated publicly by the tribunal.
Other landowners whom Mr Dunlop says knew about his activities include Christopher Jones, whose land at Ballycullen was rezoned in 1992, and Monarch Properties, which owned land at Cherrywood.
Correction 02/08/2006
Christopher Jones: In this article we named Christopher Jones as an individual whom Frank Dunlop says knew about his activities in connection with the rezoning of lands. Mr Jones utterly rejects any assertion that he knew about those activities and has given evidence to that effect to the Mahon tribunal which the article failed to note. The Irish Times apologies to Mr Jones for this omission.