The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) has said it will not be making any comment "at this stage" about an interview in which Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy said Thomas "Slab" Murphy was being unfairly linked to major criminality.
The MP for Newry and Mourne said yesterday there was nothing to connect Thomas "Slab" Murphy to the 250 Manchester properties being investigated by ARA.
The Criminal Assets Bureau in the Republic is also carrying out investigations in Dundalk which are said to be linked to "Slab" Murphy, the alleged IRA chief of staff.
Mr Murphy accused elements in ARA, which is run by former RUC Special branch chief Alan McQuillan, of providing selective briefings to try to implicate the reputed IRA leader in criminality.
"Slab" Murphy is a constituent of Mr Murphy and has a house near Hackballscross straddling the Border at counties Armagh and Louth. It is alleged he has amassed a fortune of up to £40 million through cross-Border smuggling, some of which purportedly has added to his personal wealth and some of which was provided to the IRA.
"I read the statement from the Assets Recovery Agency which is quite vague and bland and doesn't refer to any republican at all, much less Mr Murphy," Mr Conor Murphy told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme yesterday.
"What we have is the Assets Recovery Agency issuing a statement about what they are doing. But then elements or individuals within the Assets Recovery Agency, who have a Special Branch background, have been giving selective and private briefings to some journalists to try to point the finger at different people," added Mr Murphy.
ARA responded that it was declining to respond "at this stage", implying that a reaction eventually would be forthcoming.
If ARA and Cab believe they have evidence to take civil action against "Slab" Murphy this would be likely to involve applications to the High Court in the UK and the Republic to freeze and seize his alleged multi-million pound assets.
Meanwhile, DUP MP for North Belfast Nigel Dodds said Sinn Féin's reaction to the current anti-racketeering investigations demonstrated the party's "duplicitous attitude towards criminality".
"Conor Murphy's attacks on the ARA, with his references to Special Branch involvement, shows that any effort to stop or seize the criminal activities and assets of the IRA will be met with resistance by Sinn Féin.
"More Sinn Féin attempts to damage the credibility and standing of the ARA and its staff can be expected in their efforts to distract attention from the massive criminal activities of the republican movement," said Mr Dodds.
He said it would not be sufficient for the British government and the Independent Monitoring Commission "simply to declare" there was a reduction in IRA activity to allow for political progress.
"There must be positive dismantling of the criminal and terrorist machinery. It is clear from the reaction to the Murphy investigation that Sinn Féin have still a long way to go on that issue," said Mr Dodds.
