A senior member of the Ulster Defence Association, Jim Gray, was among several senior East Belfast members expelled from the loyalist paramilitary organisation yesterday.
In a move seen as an attempt to clean up its image, Mr Gray (43), one of six so-called brigadiers on the inner council of the UDA, was deposed yesterday, along with other senior members of his East Belfast unit in a ruthless move by the organisation.
His bleach-blond hair, heavy gold jewellery, year-round tan and lavish lifestyle were an increasing source of embarrassment as the UDA attempted to restore its tattered image.
The UDA declared yesterday that its East Belfast leadership had been stood down and was now under the direct command of an inner council trying to restore its credibility.
The organisation has claimed to be on ceasefire for two years.
However, nationalists and republicans insist the organisation, which murdered scores of Catholics at the height of the bloodshed in Northern Ireland, remains sectarian.
The British government last November acknowledged that UDA guns were silent in an attempt to lure it away from crime and violence and into the political process.
The SDLP deputy leader, Alasdair McDonnell, claimed last night that the UDA was still heavily involved in racketeering despite the expulsions.
"The UDA are trying to make themselves out as the paragons of virtue in this situation.
"But the truth is that getting expelled from the UDA for criminality is like getting expelled from the Ku-Klux-Klan for racism," he said.
Dr McDonnell, a South Belfast MLA, claimed its crime levels showed no sign of diminishing.
"This is not simply a problem in east Belfast, it is rife in south Belfast, where protection rackets, drug dealing and other illegal activities are the order of the day.
"The UDA do not want to give up criminality - they are making too much money out of it."