A High Court judge will give a decision later on a proceeds of crime application by the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) against alleged Hutch gang associate James “Mago” Gately and his partner Charlene Lam.
Cab is targeting the couple’s family home in Glin Drive, Coolock, Co Dublin, a Volkswagan Golf and a Rolex watch, which it seized in 2019.
On Wednesday, Mr Justice Alexander Owens said he would give his decision “in due course” after hearing submissions from barristers David Dodd, for Cab, and David Perry, for the couple.
Mr Dodd said it had not been disputed that Mr Gately was a leading member of the Hutch organised crime gang and had been arrested in relation to a number of serious offences although he was not convicted of them.
Counsel argued the evidence was clear that their lifestyle, including a €440,000 extension to their home in Coolock and numerous foreign holidays, could not be covered by the “paltry” €24,000 a year that Ms Lam earned as a beauty therapist. Their explanations for all these were not credible, he said.
Claims that work on the remodelling and doubling the size of their home was done by Mr Gately, his family and friends did not stand up to scrutiny, he said. Expert reports on such costs obtained by both sides showed very little discrepancy about the value of the extension to the house which they bought in 2013 with a mortgage.
Mr Gateley, the court heard, has not worked since 2015 because of threats and attempts on his life and depends on his partner to fund him.
The first of those was in 2017 when Estonian hitman Imre Arakas was brought to Ireland to murder Gately but was arrested by gardaí. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder Gately and was jailed for six years.
Mr Perry, for the couple, said his clients fully contest the Cab application and say the assets being targeted were legitimately obtained.
Ms Lam has no connection with crime and paid the mortgage on the house which means she has an equitable interest in it, he said.
People assumed that because of the attempts on his client’s life there was a criminal connection but Mr Gately says this is misplaced and it did not prove he was involved in organised crime, counsel said.
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