The High Court has cleared the way for an application to seize and sell for the benefit of the exchequer the family home of a man alleged to be a gang member after finding it is the proceeds of crime.
Mr Justice Kevin Feeney today granted an application by the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) for a declaration the home of Andrew Wall in, Newbridge, Co Kildare, constitutes the proceeds of crime.
He also declared other property seized from that house, including a diamond ring and cash with a value of more than €12,000, to be the proceeds of crime.
The declarations represent a further stage in a legal process which can ultimately lead to a court order to have the property forfeit to the State. Cab previously secured an order appointing a receiver over the property.
Cab claims Mr Wall is a member of a Traveller crime gang known as the “Cock Wall” clan which allegedly travels the country committing robberies and burglaries.
Mr Justice Feeney said he was satisfied the house in Newbridge, Kildare, registered in the maiden name of Mr Wall’s wife, Ellen Wall, was bought using money from his criminal activities.
While no criminal activity was alleged against Mrs Wall, the judge said he could still declare the family home to be the proceeds of crime as she had failed to substantiate claims she contributed towards purchase of the house or identified any other reason to show the declaration would be unjust.
The judge also declared other property seized during a search of the couple’s home on July 6th, 2007, was the proceeds of crime. That property was an 18 carat diamond ring worth €6,100; the proceeds of the sale of a 2003 Volkswagen car and cash sums of €10,900, IR£559, and Stg £1,180.
He rejected as “entirely lacking in credibility” Mrs Wall’s claim that €118,000 cash used towards the purchase of the house was a wedding gift from a great-aunt who allegedly earned the money from a lifetime of selling second-hand clothes and bric-a-brac door to door in Ballyfermot.
He also found Ms Wall provided no credible explanation for keeping the €118,000 in a cupboard of her previous home when she was receiving an allowance from social welfare towards payment of rent on that house.
The judge said he gave no weight to claims by Cab a man who sold the house to the Walls was duped out of €100,000 in an alleged under-the-counter deal. It was claimed the vendor agreed a deal with Mr Wall under which he would officially be paid €140,000 for the house but Mr Wall would also pay over an additional €100,000 in cash. Cab claimed that additional €100,000 was never handed over.
Without testimony from the vendor, whom Cab alleged was too afraid to go looking for the disappeared €100,000, this was hearsay evidence, the judge said.
Notwithstanding that, he was satisfied the Walls had available to them nearly €500,000 in funds from unknown sources between 1995 and 2007.
A forensic accountant for Cab identified more than €400,000 passed through their bank accounts between 2002 and 2007 when they had no known sources of income, the judge noted. This occurred when Mr Wall was in prison for a considerable period while Mrs Wall was in receipt of social welfare until 2004.
Mr Wall, who has 11 previous convictions, was released from prison in 2004 after serving six years for the manslaughter of John Mc Carthy (35) at a halting site in Tallaght in 1996.
Shortly after Mr Wall’s release, he was convicted of handling €14,500 worth of jewellery stolen in a burglary in December 2004, the judge said. This demonstrated his willingness to be involved in and with the proceeds of crime, he added.