Court urged to reject Cab’s claim assets linked to Kinahan gang member were obtained with crime proceeds

The Criminal Assets Bureau is not entitled to orders allowing it to seize some €1.7 million of assets linked to senior Kinahan organised crime gang member Ross Browning, the High Court has heard.

Cab is seeking orders under section 3 of the 1996 Proceeds of Crime Act in respect of assets, including two properties, plots of land, cars, jewellery and luxury watches, it claims were acquired with monies from Mr Browning, described as the Kinahan gang’s “principal representative” in Ireland.

Cab says the assets were obtained by Browning “intermingling” cash derived from the proceeds of the gang’s criminal activities with money belonging to several family members.

While Browning has not contested Cab’s application, the claims have been denied by lawyers representing several members of his family, including his mother Julie Conway and the estate of his late grandfather, William Conway.

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The family members have contested the application on various grounds, including that they have an interest in the assets and say that monies spent on the various items came from legitimate sources.

Represented by Shane Costelloe SC, Mr Conway’s estate claims that any allegation by Cab concerning assets in Mr Conway’s name should have been, but were not, made within two years of his death in November 2018.

Cab’s application must fail because the statute of limitations for any claim on the estate has expired, it was claimed.

Counsel said a property in Garristown, in north Co Dublin, which Cab claims was acquired by money from Browning, was acquired with funds legitimately obtained by Mr Conway, who died in 2018.

Browning’s mother, Julie Conway, and her husband, retired Garda David O’Brien, say they live in a renovated cottage in Garristown, now called Chestnut Lodge.

They say that the late Mr Conway said he wanted the couple to have Chestnut Lodge but he died intestate.

The couple says they borrowed from financial institutions and other legitimate sources to renovate a derelict cottage at a cost of between €80,000 to €100,000.

However, they strongly reject Cab’s claim that some €330,000 was spent on the property.

Julie Conway also claims that she acquired two small plots of land in Rush, Co Dublin, with monies that she had also borrowed.

Cab also claims that a house on Deanstown Road, Finglas, purchased for €56,000 in 2012 by William Conway was acquired and renovated with the money from Browning.

Cab’s claim that the property was renovated at a cost of over €200,000 was disputed, and, it is further claimed the property was paid for with money Mr Conway got after being made redundant from his bar management job and from an award he received from the State.

The funds from the sale of that house to Ian O’Haire were used by Mr Conway to acquire the lands in Garristown, the court heard.

Mr O’Haire, a relative of Mr Conway and Browning, said he bought the house from William Conway for €120,000 in 2013.

Mr O’Haire, who disputes Cab’s contention that crime proceeds were spent on the property, claims he paid for the house out of funds he received in a personal injuries award.

Mr Browning’s aunt, Lesley Conway, who said she helped out at a Dublin gym he operated, rejected Cab’s claim that a car she owned was acquired with crime proceeds.

Cab, represented by Benedict Ó Flionn SC and Grainne O’Neill Bl, rejected the respondents’ claims.

Cab says the proceedings were brought inside the two-year time limit.

Counsel said that the details provided by the respondents to the court failed to properly explain or engage with the details and figures put before the court by the bureau’s officers.

Cab claims that the lifestyle enjoyed Mr Browning and members of his family, which included multiple foreign trips, could not have been paid for by legitimate earnings.

Following the conclusion of submissions from both parties on Friday, Mr Justice Alexander Owens said he would give his judgment at a future date.

At the opening of the case, the court heard that Browning is a leading member of the transnational Kinahan organised crime gang, whose operations have an estimated worth of €1 billion.

The Kinahan gang, counsel added, is involved in criminal activities, including drug dealing, the importation of weapons, and murder and money laundering in South America, the Middle East and mainland Europe, as well as in Ireland.

Cab also claims Browning is an associate of senior gang members, including Christopher Kinahan snr, his sons Daniel and Christopher jnr.