In a major blow to the Kinahan organised crime gang, the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) has obtained High Court orders seizing a valuable west Dublin property controlled by the gang as representing the proceeds of crime.
The orders were granted against Daniel Kinahan and Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh, both believed by Cab to play key roles in the Kinahan/Kavanagh organised crime group (OCG).
Cab claimed Jimmy Mansfield jnr gave Number 10 Coldwater Lakes, Saggart, plus various cash payments, to the Kinahan/Kavanagh group, following failure to make property investments with about €4.5 million cash the gang gave him in two suitcases on the day after Good Friday in 2009.
A number of gang members, including Mr Kavanagh and Freddy Thompson, had arrived at a hotel owned by the Mansfields on Good Friday 2009 and, on the instructions of Mr Mansfield jnr, who was holding a private party, were given the “VIP treatment” and stayed overnight in the hotel, according to information from a protected witness, Martin Byrne, former head of security for the Mansfield family.
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The suitcases were handed over by two individuals to Mr Mansfield at his home the following day, Mr Byrne said.
[ Jim Mansfield jnr joked about ‘making money’ while partying, High Court toldOpens in new window ]
His information indicated the OCG was to receive several properties for their investment but the deal went awry following the collapse and entry into receivership of the Mansfield empire as a result of the 2008 financial crash. The OCG, Cab claimed, was given Number 10 and various cash payments instead.
The High Court orders granted on Thursday, the first of their kind obtained against Daniel Kinahan, mean a Cab receiver can sell the five bedroom gated property at No 10 Coldwater Lakes for the benefit of the State.
Valued at €750,000 in 2013, it is likely to be worth “a lot more” now, Cab’s barrister Shelley Horan said.
Mr Justice Michael McGrath also ordered seizure of €3,750 cash seized by detectives in three locations during a search of No 10 as the proceeds of crime.
He made the orders based on affidavits, including from the head of Cab, Det Chief Supt Michael Gubbins, concerning extensive investigations into ownership and control of No 10.
The judge was satisfied the evidence supported Cab’s belief the property represented the proceeds of crime.
He adjourned the case to November after Ms Horan said a receiver will be appointed by Cab over the property and the present occupants will be given time to vacate it.
Passport and baggage sticker
The Cab inquiry, dating back to 2014, has left the bureau satisfied No 10 was sold for €2 million in 2006 to a company of the group founded by deceased businessman James Mansfield and had passed around 2014 into the control of the OCG involving Daniel Kinahan and Thomas Kavanagh.
Cab’s proceedings were also against brothers Jimmy Mansfield jnr and PJ Mansfield but, after they waived any claim to the property and cash, the proceedings continued against Daniel Kinahan, believed to be in Dubai, and Thomas Kavanagh, formerly of Knocknaree Road, Drimnagh, Dublin, who was jailed for 21 years by an English court last March on drug and money laundering charges.
Neither participated in the proceedings but the judge was satisfied the legal documents had been served on them and they were aware of the proceedings, including from extensive media reports.
In affidavits, Cab said No 10 was among 31 properties searched on January 29th, 2015, as part of an investigation concerning suspected company frauds.
On that date, Matthew Macklin, a retired international boxer, was there and a vehicle in the driveway was registered to Darren Foster, formerly with an address at Clonliffe Road, Dublin, an associate of Liam Byrne, formerly with an address at Raleigh Square, Crumlin, and purported head of the Byrne OCG.
Cab said Mr Macklin had said he was over for a charity event in the Red Cow Hotel and politely declined to provide any information about No 10.
On the basis of various items found in the property, Cab said it appeared to be occupied by Daniel Kinahan. These included a passport in the name Daniel Kinahan and an Aer Lingus baggage sticker which the airline had confirmed the sticker referred to one Daniel Kinahan with an address in Marbella, Malaga, and to a flight booked through info@mgm.com for November 7th, 2014.
Other documents were linked to Eoghan Kelly, including a hotel receipt giving his address as Woodford Court, Clondalkin and a Sky account for No 10. Cab said its enquiries established Eoghan Kelly was a friend of Daniel Kinahan and his younger brother Christopher Kinahan.
Other items included a receipt for €279 for a Michael Mercer Rose & Grey bracelet, the purchaser being James Quinn, with addresses including Westcourt, Basin Street, Dublin. Quinn (40) is a close associate of Daniel Kinahan, has 70 recorded convictions here and is serving a 22 year sentence in Spain in relation to the murder of Gary Hutch which, Cab said, is strongly believed to have ignited the Hutch/Kinahan feud.
Tenancy agreement
Cab said its investigations indicated a woman had been approached by a man, Seán Creagh, whom she knew from holidaying in Marbella to visit a friend, to put an Eircom bill for the property in her name. She was given cash by Mr Creagh for payments out of her account for the bill, which she later cancelled.
Cab said the friend referred to was Sinead Mallon, a daughter of Jean Boylan, mother of Daniel and Christy Kinahan. Sean Creagh was in 2015 a boxer fighting under the banner MGM Marbella, the boxing management company founded in 2001 by Daniel Kinahan, Matthew Macklin, Seamus Macklin and Anthony Fitzpatrick, a close friend and business associate of Daniel Kinahan, it said.
The use of a laptop found at the property was linked to Christopher Kinahan jnr, it said.
When Cab searched the property again on May 23rd, 2019, information indicated it was then being resided in by Anthony Fitzpatrick, Cab said.
It interviewed Mr Fitzpatrick twice in 2019 about a purported residential tenancy agreement dated August 11th 2017 between “A Mansfield” and Mr Fitzpatrick.
Mr Fitzpatrick had said he moved back to Ireland from Spain in summer 2017 and worked as boxing agent for MTK Global. He said a friend was looking for someone to move into No 10 and look after it, the lease was posted to him, he never met any of the Mansfields in relation to the lease and never paid rent for the property. He said he and his wife were buying a house and he was moving out.
Cab said the landlord signature on the document was “illegible” and there was no tenant signature.
Cab said Mr Fitzpatrick’s statement was “not credible” and that it is apparent that No 10 is in the possession and control of the Kinahan/Kavanagh OCG.
It said Anthony Mansfield had said the signature on the rental agreement was not his and that his brothers Jimmy jnr and PJ looked after “that side of things”.
CAB believes, sometime in 2014, Jimmy Mansfield jnr tried through a solicitor to have the title to No 10 perfected so the Kavanaghs could enter a formal contract for it but that was never finalised. It referred to interviewing several solicitors in 2017 and 2018 about apparent attempts, which provided unsuccessful, to transfer the ownership of No 10.
Dubliner Lee Cullen — a former car dealer now serving a 21 year sentence imposed in 2018 for his part in a gun-smuggling operation — indicated to one solicitor that No 10′s owners in 2017 were Leisure Park Retail Estate (LPRE), then a UK company whose directors included close associates of Liam Byrne, Thomas Kavanagh and Daniel Kinahan.
