Crime bosses opt for cash over cars
And when gangland figures do invest in vehicles they are tending to purchasing less flashy ones in a bid to avoid the attention of CAB and local gardaí.
There was a three-fold increase last year in court seizure orders involving cash/financial assets — jumping from nine cases in 2014 to 30 cases in 2015.
The CAB 2015 annual report described this as a “notable increase” — and that these assets were valued at almost €750,000.
There was a drop in assets involving vehicles (from eight to four) and jewellery (from four to two).
CAB said it had its first seizure of Bitcoins in 2015 and said it was working on best practice in investigating, freezing, seizing, and confiscating such assets.
It noted a “very significant drop” in the overall value of financial assets seized, but this was due to two foreign-based international corruption cases in 2014.
One involved the son of a Nigerian dictator, General Sani Abacha. Some 30 policies owned by the son in Ireland, held by HBSC Life, were worth $4m (€3.67m).
A second case, involving the daughter of a Thai tourism chief and held in a policy by HBSC Dublin, was valued at around €250,000.
The bureau said it targeted a number of “mid-range” valued vehicles in 2015.
“This is, in part, a response to actions being taken by those involved in crime to purchase lower valued vehicles in an attempt to avoid detection,” said the report.
Vehicles seized in 2015 include a Mercedes Benz E250, two Volkswagen Golfs and a Volkswagen Passat TDI.
The bureau returned in excess of €3.8m to the exchequer, including over €1.6m returned under Proceeds of Crime legislation, €2.038m collected under Revenue legislation, and €0.185m recovered in Social Welfare overpayments.
The report said the number of new proceeds of crime actions taken by CAB increased, from 10 in 2014 to 13 in 2015. In addition, High Court orders were handed down in 37 cases, compared to 22 in 2014.
In his last report as CAB boss, Det Chief Supt Eugene Corcoran said that while most of the 13 new cases in 2015 were for drug trafficking, a number were for burglary crime and robbery.
The bureau issued 26 tax assessments worth €6.28m in 2015, with just over €2m collected. Some €1.2m in social welfare overpayments were identified.
