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Criminal Assets Bureau gets new powers as scale of problem in Ireland revealed

Criminal Assets Bureau gets new powers as scale of problem in Ireland revealed

Times16 hours ago
Jim O'Callaghan, the justice minister, is planning a radical overhaul of the legislation underpinning the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) as part of a renewed effort to combat transnational crime.
The decision to expand the bureau's powers follows the rapid evolution of organised crime in Ireland, which has been deemed a threat to national security. O'Callaghan will tell the cabinet that Ireland's illicit economy is worth an estimated €1.7 billion annually — about 0.3 per cent of the state's GDP. That figure is expected to rise, with criminal revenues across the EU approaching €110 billion, or 1 per cent of Europe's GDP.
Last week, gardai secured the conviction of eight men for attempting to import €157 million worth of cocaine aboard MV Matthew, a bulk cargo ship intercepted off the south coast in 2023. The smuggling operation was orchestrated by a consortium of Irish, Middle Eastern and Russian criminals, working in concert with Iran and Hezbollah, its proxy Lebanese militia.
O'Callaghan will bring a memo to cabinet on Tuesday proposing to reduce from seven years to two the waiting period between a court ruling that property is the proceeds of crime and the issuing of a final disposal order.
Under the new proposals, CAB would be permitted to appoint a receiver as soon as a court determines that assets were criminally acquired. This would prevent cases from becoming mired in appeals and stop criminals from continuing to reside in seized homes while legal proceedings are ongoing.
The bill will grant CAB investigators enhanced powers to freeze financial accounts and seize assets in the course of an investigation.
Ireland is credited with pioneering asset-seizure legislation in the 1990s through the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996. Its first high-profile target was John Gilligan, the drug trafficker suspected of ordering the murder of the journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996. In 2023, CAB deprived criminals of €9.8 million in illicit gains.
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