A former Fine Gael politician and Longford businessman convicted of laundering more than €2.6 million through a number of companies linked to Cyril ‘Dublin Jimmy’ McGuinness has been jailed for three years and three months.
Frank Kilbride (70), of Aughakilmore, Ballinalee, appeared before Longford Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday having previously pleaded guilty to three counts of laundering sums totalling €2,604,564.05 through three bank accounts on dates between October 2017 and March 2018.
The prosecution is linked to the Garda investigation into the 2019 kidnapping and torture of Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH) director Kevin Lunney in Co Fermanagh. Mr McGuinness, who died of a heart attack during a police raid on his home in the UK in 2019, has since been named as a key organiser of that attack.
Before his sentencing, Kilbride begged Judge Kenneth Connolly not to let him die in jail, adding that he is suffering from cancer. “Please don’t send me to prison for too long,” he said.
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Judge Connolly said he understood Kilbride’s position but that he must balance his needs with those of society. He said money laundering was a very serious crime and Kilbride was an “important cog” in moving a large amount of money.
He imposed a term of 4½ years, reduced from a headline sentence of six years, given Kilbride’s mitigation. He suspended the final 15 months of the 4½ year term, noting the accused’s health issues. Judge Connolly also banned Kilbride from registering any new companies during the term of his suspended sentence.
Det Garda Rhona Bohan told the court that, in November 2019, a number of searches were carried out in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Buxton, England on foot of warrants issued in respect of the assault and abduction of Mr Lunney, who was QIH’s chief operating officer. During the course of those searches, a partial AIB bank statement was discovered in the name of WOI Plant Hire & Supplies Ltd, which provided details relating to another company, TJO Developments.
On November 29th, 2019, Kilbride made contact with gardaí to make a statement regarding TJO Developments after he received documentation from the Revenue Commissioners regarding an outstanding VAT bill.
Kilbride told gardaí that in the spring of 2017 he was approached by a third party looking to see if he had any companies for sale. Kilbride sold the man TJO Developments for €3,000. Some months later Kilbride was informed by a Co Longford bank worker that the account for TJO Developments was still in his name and money was going through it. He was advised to “change the numbers” on the account.
After doing so, Kilbride said a man known to him as ‘Dublin Jimmy’ arrived at his house with two other men to talk about the account. ‘Dublin Jimmy’ told Kilbride there was €100 left in the account, which he should “hold on to for medical expenses”. Kilbride perceived that as a threat, the court heard.
When Kilbride contacted the third party who had purchased the account on behalf of ‘Dublin Jimmy’ – who Kilbride later learned was Cyril McGuinness – he was told to “pass no heed on Dublin Jimmy, he’s only blowing steam”.
During the course of the investigation, gardaí became aware of two Irish bank accounts associated with TJO Developments, one of which had moved a total of €1,727,427.28 and the other which moved €867,143.80 to companies across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Gardaí also became aware of a third bank account, which was Kilbride’s personal account. This account was linked to the moving of about €10,000 in funds.
Vincent Heneghan, senior counsel for Kilbride, said the case was one of “a man who should know better, and a man who acted stupidly out of desperation in a case of intimidation”.
“There’s no doubt he involved himself, he was active himself and an important cog in a wider enterprise. He unwittingly and stupidly allowed himself to be used,” counsel said.
The judge had previously told Mr Heneghan he “can’t see any way of dealing with the matter on a non-custodial basis”, stressing that €2.6 million was “a lot of money”.
Kilbride served three times as a Fine Gael councillor in Co Longford having been elected in 1999, 2004 and 2009. He is a former mayor of Longford. He was an unsuccessful candidate in 2014 and 2019 local elections in the Granard area and again in the 2020 general election when he went forward as an independent in Longford-Westmeath.
Kilbride is a well-known figure in the midlands because of his work as a musician, music manager and presenter of a country music programme on Shannonside Radio, as well as his former association with the Park House Hotel in Edgeworthstown.
A spokesperson for Fine Gael, after the sentence had been passed, said: “Fine Gael notes and welcomes the sentence. Money laundering is a serious crime. Fine Gael fully supports An Garda Siochána and all other agencies involved in bringing criminals to justice.” They noted that Kilbride was not a member of the party and had stood against Fine Gael at the last general election.
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