State to get €12m gangland cash

The Criminal Assets Bureau is preparing to go to the High Court to complete confiscation actions against the assets of some of the State's best known gangland figures.

More than €12 million will be transferred to State funds once a series of High Court actions is complete.

Among those against whom cases are to completed are John Gilligan and another member of his gang, Patrick "Dutchy" Holland, as well as a Dutch sailor.

Proceedings will also be directed against the estates of two dead Irish drug dealers, Derek Dunne and Peter Mitchell.

Last week, the High Court ordered that €100,000, the proceeds of the 1997 sale of two apartments owned by Dublin criminal Brian Meehan, should be paid over to the Exchequer.

It was the first application of its kind made by CAB under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The apartments were originally seized by CAB in 1997. Profits have been frozen in an account for the last seven years because the proceeds of crime legislation allows for a seven-year appeal period.

That period has now expired in Meehan's case. It has also expired in respect of a number of other criminals. The Irish Times has established that High Court actions similar to that against Meehan are being prepared by CAB against at least six other criminals.

CAB is about to move against the convicted Dublin drug dealer Tommy "The Boxer" Mullen. The 32-year-old is currently serving an 18-year prison term in England for his part in a heroin smuggling ring between Ireland and the UK. Mullen acquired a house in Artane, Dublin, which was seized by CAB and sold for some €200,000. Profit from the sale will be transferred to State funds after the pending CAB High Court application.

The convicted drug dealer John Gilligan will also be targeted this summer. His estimated €10 million in assets have been frozen since 1997. The seven-year appeal period expires in July. CAB will first apply to the High Court for a sale order against Gilligan's Jessbrook equestrian centre in Kildare, valued at about €8 million.

The assets of Patrick Holland, a former member of Gilligan's gang, are also set to be transferred. CAB has seized his property at Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow.

Assets of about €120,000 belonging to the dead drug dealer Derek Dunne will also be transferred, as will €125,000 of drug dealer Peter Mitchell, who is also now dead. The yacht of a Dutch sailor, Rennie Couts, was seized in Galway in 1997. It has already been sold at auction realising a profit of €100,000 for CAB.