TWO BULLETPROOF BMWs seized from criminals are now being used as Garda cars, according to the annual report of the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab).
The Irish Timesunderstands the emergency response unit has been using them in Limerick on high-risk gangland operations. The vehicles, a BMW X5 4X4 and a BMW 3 Series car, were registered to brothers Ger and Wayne Dundon, both members of a feuding Limerick gang. The vehicles are worth about €350,000.
Wayne Dundon has recently completed a sentence for threatening to kill a barman who refused to serve his 14-year-old sister in a pub. He is regarded as the leader of the McCarthy-Dundon gang.
It is understood that while the Cab had initially planned to sell the Dundons’ seized cars, concerns emerged as to who might buy them, given that they are bulletproof.
It was then decided the vehicles should be retained by the State as specialist Garda cars.
The Cab’s annual report also confirms that Irish criminals trying to evade the bureau are moving their wealth and assets offshore.
However, some 22 EU states have now established asset-recovery offices. These work in sharing information on criminals and their assets with a view to confiscating assets through cross-border investigations.
Commenting on the publication of the bureau’s annual report, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said the appointment of Garda assets profilers, who gather intelligence on assets at local level across the country, was making life more difficult for criminals.
“There are currently 128 asset profilers based in every county in Ireland, and this number will be reviewed in the light of changing needs and requirements,” he said.
According to the annual report, the Cab was granted High Court interim orders – which freeze an asset – last year in relation to property, cash and other assets with a combined value of just under €11.5 million.
This was the second-highest total since the bureau’s establishment in 1996.
The Cab was granted High Court interlocutory orders on possessions valued at a combined €3.8 million, which was within the range of previous annual totals.
These orders effectively bring to an end an owner’s rights over an asset.
The bureau collected €5.1 million in taxes and interest through its investigations in 2009.
The Cab also identified €790,000 in social welfare overpayments and secured savings of €720,000, a record annual figure.
