The Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) has obtained a High Court order to seize over €1 million in cash and cheques discovered by gardaí during a cross-Border search earlier this month of lands, including the residence of the alleged former IRA chief of staff, Thomas "Slab" Murphy.
The cash and cheques were found in black plastic bags in a cattle shed and bore the hallmarks of money-laundering activities, the court was told.
The searches were carried out by the Cab, assisted by local gardaí, Customs officers and officers from the Revenue Commissioners, members of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Special Detective Unit.
Simultaneous searches were carried out on the northern side of the Border by the PSNI.
The order to appoint a receiver to take possession of euro cash and cheques and sterling cash and cheques was granted by the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, earlier this week. The application was brought by Cab on an ex-parte basis (only one side represented).
The order was made under the Proceeds of Crime Act against Thomas Murphy, also known as Tom "Slab" Murphy, Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, Co Louth, his brothers Patrick Murphy, Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, and Francis Murphy, Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, and Ace Oils Ltd, with a registered office at Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, Co Louth.
The receiver was given power to lodge the cash and cheques in new accounts pending further orders of the court. The totals seized during the searches of land owned by the Murphy family were €256,235 and £111,185 in cash and cheques and drafts totalling €673,460.
In documents supplied to the court, the head of Cab, Det Chief Supt Felix McKenna, said the cash and cheques were found in black plastic bags in a cattle shed owned by Patrick Murphy adjacent to his residence.
Access to the shed was through a gate on a road on the Northern Ireland side of the Border which opened out on to a farm complex owned by the Murphys. Access from the southern side of the Border was through a field registered in the name of Patrick Murphy's wife, Rosemary, it was stated.
Supt McKenna said Tom, Frank and Patrick Murphy have for the past 20 years been involved in the oil distribution industry and oil-smuggling and money-laundering activities.
He said Ace Oils Ltd continued to operate from the Murphy family farm and this farm and the Ace Oils yard straddled the Border with buildings in both jurisdictions.
Smuggling was carried out from the farm to either Northern Ireland or the Republic, depending on the price differential in each jurisdiction at particular times, he said.
Between April 1989 and September 2005, there were 16 seizures and detections of smuggled fuel made by Customs officers, which were linked to individuals known to have been working for the Murphys and Ace Oils Ltd.
A search was carried out on March 9th at the residence of Thomas Murphy, the business premises of Ace Oils Ltd, the residences of Patrick Murphy and Frank Murphy, and a cattle shed owned by Patrick Murphy.
A number of black plastic bags and a case were discovered in the cattle shed.
The bags contained large quantities of cash and cheques as well as documentation connected with the Murphy family and Ace Oils Ltd.
The cash and third-party cheques relating to Ace Oils business bore the hallmarks of money-laundering activities, Supt McKenna said.
"In addition to the cash and cheques, the searches of the Murphy farm complex and Ace Oil premises both north and south of the Border uncovered evidence of fuel-laundering activities on a vast scale.
"The entire set-up of the fuel storage system at the Ace Oils yard was designed to facilitate cross-Border smuggling of fuel," Supt McKenna said.