The Criminal Assets Bureau had one of its busiest years last year, freezing more than €6 million in cash and other assets and collecting near-record taxes of over €16 million, new figures obtained by The Irish Times reveal.
Last year's seizures mean that, by the end of 2005, Cab had frozen assets of nearly €60 million since its establishment in 1996 and collected taxes from criminals of €89 million.
Many of the criminals who were first targeted by Cab have seen their assets transfer into State coffers in the past 18 months, as freezing periods granted by the High Court in the late 1990s are now expiring. To date, €4.5 million has been realised in this way.
One of the first property portfolios targeted under the Proceeds of Crime Act was that of Dublin criminal Brian Meehan, who will today hear if his conviction for the murder of Veronica Guerin has been overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Tax assessments on criminals on undeclared income that is found to be the proceeds of crime have been by far the most effective method used by Cab to dismantle crime gangs.
Last year this realised payments of €16.4 million for the bureau, close to the record €18 million of 2001. A total of €88.9 million has been collected in taxes since 1996 arising from assessments of €98 million.
Last year the High Court granted interim freezing orders in respect of euro, sterling and US dollar assets to the value of €6.2 million. More long-term freezing orders, know as interlocutory orders, were granted by the court in respect of assets and cash to the value of €1.4 million.
Social welfare overpayment assessments reached €340,000 last year, bringing the total since 1996 to €2.8 million. Social welfare savings achieved through Cab actions reached €216,000 last year, for a total of €2 million since 1996. Social welfare sums recovered by the bureau have reached €1 million since 1996, following the recovery of almost €300,00 last year.
The bureau now has assets profilers in all 26 Garda divisions. These are local gardaí who have been trained by Cab in the financial profiling of known criminals. They are not officially attached to Cab, but collect information for the bureau.
They have all spent a period on placement in Cab's offices in Dublin. Cab's co-operation with detectives throughout the Dublin area has also been greatly enhanced in the past 12 months in an effort to ensure information on the wealth of known criminals is used against them.
Cab members are now regularly attending Operation Anvil case conferences. That operation was established 12 months ago to target armed gangs in Dublin.
