Gardaí investigating recent gangland murders in Dublin have uncovered evidence of widespread mortgage fraud through which drug dealers are laundering their drugs money unnoticed in some of the State's biggest banks, The Irish Times has learned.
A number of drug dealers in their 20s have managed to build considerable wealth undetected. The scam, known as mortgage application fraud, involves drug dealers buying houses in the name of a relative or trusted associate.
The criminals have used rogue financial brokers to establish a false earnings and savings history for the individual in whose name the house is to be bought. These are submitted to a bank with other mortgage application paperwork.
Once the mortgage has been approved, the loan drawn down and the house sale closed, the drug dealer pays the mortgage each month and launders his earnings.
Some drug dealers who have come to the attention of gardaí in recent months have bought up to six houses and were using them to launder between €7,000 and €10,000 per month. The practice came to light during Garda investigations into six gangland-style murders in Coolock since February.
The chief suspect in the shooting dead of Keith Fitzsimons (24), from Glin Grove, Coolock, last month was found to have used mortgage application fraud to acquire six houses, worth some €2 million. This man, in his mid-20s, is believed to have ordered the shooting. Officers investigating the other five murders and some shootings in Blanchardstown encountered similar practices being used by those under investigation.
Senior gardaí believe the mortgage application fraud has been developed by those involved in organised crime in response to the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) and tighter financial controls.
"When we went after John Gilligan's gang, most of the assets they had were in their own names," said one senior Garda source. "But we're not seeing that now so much."
News of the new laundering practice comes 10 years after Cab was established.
Gardaí have noted it was now much more difficult to hide assets in Ireland than a decade ago.
As part of new initiatives under Cab head Chief Supt Feilx McKenna the bureau now runs workshops for banks and other legal and financial professionals to help them identify suspicious activity.
In 1996 there were 500 reports to gardaí over suspicious transactions. Last year that figure reached almost 10,500, according to the latest figures.
Cab froze more than €6m last year: page 3
