Senior Hutch gang member James “Mago” Gately and his partner, Charlene Lam, clearly put their best efforts – and money from his drug dealing and bank robberies – into building their trophy house in Coolock, north Dublin.
But their tenure in the biggest house on the council scheme came to an end on Tuesday morning.
A team of officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) arrived at their former home on Glin Drive and took possession of the house in a daylong operation.
Locks were changed, steel shutters fixed to windows and doors, and alarms fitted throughout the property.
Unusually, the house was spotless, unlike some properties seized by Cab that require professional cleaning at a cost of €5,000 or more. Keys for the property were also surrendered, so gardaí did not need to force their way in.
However, the seizure wasn’t completely straightforward. The staircase had been taken out, as had some internal doors.
Gately, who has survived several assassination attempts by the Kinahan criminal cartel, is one of the most dangerous criminals in the country. Linked to three murders, he is currently a member of the Hutch gang and a former member of their rivals, the Kinahan cartel.
The 38-year-old was a pallbearer at the funeral of Gary Hutch, his close friend whose murder by the Kinahan cartel in Spain in 2015 triggered the Kinahan-Hutch feud that would ultimately claim the lives of 18 people. Gately engenders fear, even among those he rubs shoulders with in the underworld.
The workers who arrived at the house on Tuesday were taking no chances. The three vans they arrived in were white and unmarked. There were no logos for the companies they worked for or on their work clothing.
They were determined not to provide any information that might identify them to Gately or his gang. Press photographers were urged not to capture any images of the workers’ faces or their vehicles’ registrations.
Gately and Lam – a beautician who is not involved in crime – have two young children. The High Court ruled the Coolock house was “overwhelmingly” funded from the proceeds of crime. It was purchased for €125,000 in 2013 before being renovated and extended, almost doubling its original size, at a cost of €440,000.
Cab will move to sell it on the open market and return the proceeds to the State.
But who would buy a house seized from a criminal such as Gately?
Last week, a meeting of Dublin City Council heard the former home of senior Kinahan crime gang member Seán McGovern was bought by the council almost five years ago after being seized by Cab but it remained vacant. This was due to “physical threats” to workers who have attempted to renovate the property on Kildare Road in Crumlin.
[ Would you buy a home seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau?Opens in new window ]
Last September it emerged a house in Ardnacassa, Longford town, was vandalised shortly after being seized by Cab from Jamie Dinnegan, a 34-year-old drug dealer currently serving 18 months for affray following a feud-related incident.
In 2019, a house at Grange View, in Clondalkin, west Dublin, owned by former Kinahan leader in Ireland, Liam Byrne (44), was vandalised after being seized.
Another property on Raleigh Square, Crumlin, where Byrne lived with his family, and which was seized six years ago, was gutted before its handover.
“If you look at Liam Byrne’s house as an example, that would be very difficult [to sell], on all levels, because of the enclave they had there,” said the source of Byrne’s house on Raleigh Square, where close associates lived nearby.
In contrast, the source said that a house seized from criminal John Gilligan in Blanchardstown, west Dublin was sold to a council and another property was sold in Lucan with “no problems”.
The properties still generate interest among foreign nationals, many of whom know little, if anything, of the background of the property. Even when they did learn the details, one source said, they were unconcerned because they were unfamiliar with the personalities in Irish gangland.
The view that seized houses will sell once the price is right, irrespective of background, has been borne out again and again.
Byrne’s family home at Raleigh Square was eventually sold to a Chinese landlord investor. The vandalised Dinnegan home in Longford sold in an online auction last October for €164,000. A cottage in Ferriskill, Coolarty, Co Longford – seized from gang leader Edward “Sonny” Stokes -was sold last month for €56,000, despite being destroyed by fire.
Although McGovern’s property in Crumlin has attracted unwarranted criminal attention of late, Dublin City Council says there has been significant interest in it. A number of people on the housing list want to live there, even though they are aware of the property’s background.
While councils buy some properties seized by the bureau, most are sold on the open market and the money returned to the State.
“There are steps taken to make sure the criminals are not buying these houses back themselves in some way,” said a source familiar with the process.
When it was clear a number of bidders were in the running as the sale process neared a conclusion, checks were often made to ensure prospective buyers were not bidding for a criminal figure.
Damaged or gutted properties are often sold in that condition, resulting in an additional discount.
Most seized properties are not dogged by those issues.
Indeed, one couple proved determined to leave their house in pristine condition to maintain the veneer of great wealth and their reputations, as they saw them.
Kenneth Carpenter and Elaine Byrne agreed in December 2018 to leave their home on Rowlagh Park in Clondalkin by the following July after Cab brought them to the High Court, which ruled the property was funded from the proceeds of Carpenter’s crimes. He claimed he was a car salesman earning €75,000 a year but the court accepted Cab’s evidence he was a drug dealer.
During searches of the property, gardaí found a bullet-proof vest, about €20,000 in cash and other items valued at about €70,000, including Rolex, Breitling and Hublot watches and a Chanel handbag.
“That woman was so house proud, she insisted on that house being handed over in pristine condition,” a source said.
“She had a platinum card for Brown Thomas and she was into all the luxury goods. She left that house in tip-top condition.”
Garda sources said some criminals, especially their partners, will know that once a house is seized, photographs of the interior will appear in the media, including when the house goes on sale.
“In the same way they want the Prada shoes and the Chanel handbags, they might want the house looking great to project that high-end image, even after everyone knows Cab has gone after them,” said one source.
Luxury items seized by Cab are sold in online auctions. In one such auction last year, some of the registered bidders, for more than 100 items, were living in New Zealand, the United States and across Europe. The most expensive item, a Rolex watch, sold for €33,800, with gold bars going for €1,900. The most expensive handbag sold, a Chanel, fetched €4,600.
Unlike some concerns about seized properties, Garda sources said bidders for seized goods have no fear the criminals will ever be able to trace these items.
