A Manchester property developer says he is fighting for his reputation, writes Colm Keena
Dermot Craven was on the train to London last Thursday when police turned up at his family home, at the headquarters of his Craven group of property companies, and at a property letting outlet he has in Sale.
When his secretary called to tell him the Assets Recovery Agency were raiding his offices, she used the acronym ARA. "I said what, the IRA!" What followed, he said, was a nightmare that has affected him and his family.
Yesterday, Craven looked exactly what he says he is during his press conference - he is a property developer, property management agent, scaffolder and landlord who left school at 15 and who by dint of hard work has built up a business with a multi-million pound annual turnover.
One of 12 children, he grew up on a council estate in Manchester. His parents, who were from Co Galway, died when he was in his teens and the children were thereafter raised by his oldest sister.
He said he was holding a press conference to try to undo the damage that had been done to his personal and business reputation by the ARA raids. He sat stiff-backed in his chair and looked nervous, stunned, and angry. "You only get one reputation," he said.
The ARA is investigating whether properties owned by the alleged IRA leader, Thomas "Slab" Murphy, may be among properties being managed by the Craven group. The group builds and sells property, assists investors in buying property, lets to tenants and manages for landlords. Mr Craven could not say how many properties with which his group is associated, or even how many companies he has. Some of them are set up on the advice of accountants, he said. He said he has no interest in Irish politics and had not visited Ireland until recently. He said he was a non-practising Catholic and his wife was a Protestant. "I've got no feelings on the matter," he said in relation to Irish politics.
Several years ago he placed a newspaper advertisement looking for property investors. Brian Pepper, a native of Dundalk, got in contact. "He was very enthusiastic, very driven. I thought: 'I'll get the best years out of this guy'."
He began doing business with Mr Pepper, whose home in Manchester was also raided on Thursday last. They are partners in a company called Dermot Craven Developments Ltd, in which he has a 49 per cent stake. Mr Pepper has 51 per cent. In time Mr Pepper introduced Frank Murphy, and the Craven group arranged the sale of seven residential properties in the Manchester area to Mr Murphy. The group then began managing the properties, which were let.
Mr Murphy holds the properties by way of a company, Sailor Property, which has its registered office at Mr Craven's head office. The arrival of the ARA at his home and office, and the resultant publicity, has been "like a nightmare. I've not got the education to describe how I feel," Mr Craven said.
He learned soon after the raids that the police were interested in assets that may be linked with Thomas Murphy by way of Frank Murphy. He said he contacted Mr Pepper and said: "Brian, please tell me have you done anything that you haven't told me about?" He said Mr Pepper said he hadn't. He said Mr Pepper was "devastated".
Mr Craven said he still had 100 per cent confidence in Mr Pepper, "though my wife would have Brian strung up. I feel a bit sorry for him." He said Frank Murphy was "a real nice guy".
"I've met him a number of times. He's a very pleasant person. I can't say anything bad about him."
He added that he did not know Frank Murphy that well and if he had the level of dealings with him that was being alleged in the newspapers, he would have known him a lot better.
As described by Mr Craven yesterday, the dealings his group has had with Frank Murphy total seven residential properties in Manchester that may be worth £700,000 but which are mortgaged. In other words, the value to Mr Murphy may be in the region of a few hundred thousand pounds. This is a long way from the 250 properties worth £30 million, £9 million of which was owned by the investors, that was mentioned in the wake of the Thursday raids.
Mr Craven accused the ARA of having wild imaginations and Mr Craven's solicitor, Michael Kenyon, accused it of hyping the story to the media in order to try improve the agency's image.
Mr Pepper did not attend yesterday's press conference. His solicitor, Richard Holliday, said Mr Pepper had met Frank Murphy six years ago at a property fair in Dundalk and had learned later that he was a brother of Thomas Murphy. He had once been to a Murphy family funeral at which Thomas Murphy was present.
Mr Craven said that "on my children's lives" he had not known about the connection with Thomas Murphy. "I don't want to deal with anyone that's associated with the IRA or that's done terrible things," he said.