Assets of over £400,000 have been seized from heroin dealer Tony Felloni and two of his children by order of Judge Raymond Groarke at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Judge Groarke said he believed that Tony, Regina and Luigi Felloni had made at least £875,000 from heroin dealing since 1988.
His decision came after a threeday hearing on an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions for the seizure of the assets of the three Fellonis, who are all in jail for their drug dealing. Tony Felloni is serving a 20-year sentence; Regina, six years and nine months, and Luigi, six years.
Individually, Tony Felloni had made £400,000, of which £80,000 was recoverable; Regina Felloni had made at least £400,000 of which £300,000 was recoverable, and Luigi Felloni had made at least £75,000, of which the State could recover £23,123.
Judge Groarke said he believed that Luigi Felloni had made sums in "vast excess" of these figures, but the court was restricted by the evidence presented by the DPP.
Among the assets seized were a £100,000 house owned by Regina Felloni in Finglas, tracker bonds and hundreds of thousands of pounds held in bank accounts in Britain and Ireland.
Judge Groarke noted that no evidence was presented by the Felloni family to contradict the DPP. The court was compelled to conclude that the three had benefited from drug trafficking "to a vast degree".
The huge sums they made could not be explained by normal employment. Each had claimed social welfare for periods and showed no evidence of legitimate income.
Among assets seized from Tony Felloni was £35,650 held in an Irish Permanent Building Society account in Dublin. The court was satisfied that Tony Felloni was the same person as "Anthony Carroll" in whose name the account was registered. Evidence was given that Felloni was christened "Anthony Carroll".
The State was also entitled to more than £9,800 and £2,200 sterling seized in raids on Tony Felloni's Dublin home in 1995, as well as £6,200 in tracker bonds held by Tony Felloni and Regina Felloni.
He ordered that a further £59,413 sterling held by Tony Felloni in an Abbey National account in Northern Ireland also be seized. No inference could be drawn from a small amount of money held in an Allied Irish Bank in Dublin.
In the case of Luigi Felloni, he said that the State was entitled to take £2,229 held in an Irish Permanent account in Dublin, as the defendant had shown no good reason why such action would be unjust.
The State was also entitled to £50,000 which gardai uncovered at Dublin Airport when Luigi Felloni was departing to purchase heroin in London. Cash in excess of £7,800 and £2,000 sterling found during raids on his address as well as smaller sums valued at less than £100 each in dollars, pesetas and travellers' cheques were also taken.
Judge Groarke said he was satisfied that Luigi Felloni had made sums vastly in excess of these figures but such evidence was not before the court. He was entitled to keep £329 held in an AIB account in Dublin.
In the case of Regina Felloni, he ordered the seizure of £20,000 sterling and £22,700 sterling held in the Midlands Bank, Liverpool and the Abbey National Bank, Belfast. Further sums of £2,264 sterling and £2,675 sterling in Ulster Bank and Northern Bank in Belfast were also taken, as well as £6,200 sterling she held in a First Trust account in Belfast with her father.
Of her funds held in Dublin, the State was entitled to £73,995 in the Rotunda branch of the Bank of Ireland, £24,400 held in the O'Connell Street branch of the AIB, and £18,501 held in the ICS Building Society, Westmoreland Street. Judge Groarke said the court was satisfied that Regina Felloni was the sole owner of a £100,000 house in Finglas which should also be seized, along with over £19,000 in Northern Ireland bank drafts drawn in various Dublin banks.
Judge Groarke rejected an application for legal aid in the event of an appeal, given the "particular circumstances" of the case. Finally, he noted that under the 1994 Criminal Justice Act, the DPP had to prove his case on the balance of probabilities but had convinced the court beyond all reasonable doubt.
Insp John O'Driscoll said that the State's victory in this case sent a message to drug dealers that they would not profit from their acts.