A Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) investigation into the property empire of two British criminals based in Wicklow and south Dublin is likely to take a number of months, informed sources have told The Irish Times.
Cab officers in Dublin are analysing large quantities of documentation found during searches on Tuesday of 10 premises in south Dublin, Wicklow and Crumlin. These will be compared against items found during simultaneous searches in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The operations in the other jurisdictions were carried out at Cab's request. The bureau became aware of the activities of the two men about a year ago and established Operation Canon.
The two middle-aged men are from Scotland and Liverpool and live in Shankill, south Dublin, and Roundwood, Co Wicklow. They are linked to drug-dealing cartels in Scotland and England. They are suspected of involvement in mortgage application fraud in Britain and Ireland.
Using bogus earnings and savings records, they have secured mortgages and acquired about 800 houses in Britain and Ireland.
About 40 properties in Ireland are now being examined by Cab.
Some of the properties in Britain are derelict houses that have been bought in blocks from local authorities for greatly reduced prices.
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