Latest news with #PatrickLawlor
Irish Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Kinahan bagman stalls CAB seizing home saying he can't get quantity surveyor
A convicted Kinahan bagman fighting to stave off the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) from seizing his home has pleaded that he can't get the assistance of a quantity surveyor yet as part of his case. Patrick Lawlor and his wife Leonie are contesting the CAB case against them in which their house on Collins Avenue West in Dublin is being targeted. Patrick was one of three men jailed for seven years in October 2022 following an investigation by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau into a major transnational organised crime gang which took in more than €12m in 2019 and spent €98,000 on encrypted phones in the same year. It was run by George Mitchell, the Dublin criminal known as 'the Penguin' who left the country over 25 years ago and was since targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau, who took almost three quarters of a million euro from him. At a previous High Court hearing, Ms Lawlor told the court she is still living in the family home and had filed affidavits in response to the CAB proceedings against her and her husband to seize the family home. Ms Lawlor also told the court then that her three children are grown up but she is still living in the family home and continues to pay the mortgage from legitimate income. They purchased the house in 2007. However, the CAB case centred on income generated between 2010 and 2020. 18/12/2024 - This house is on Collins Avenue West is currently owned by convicted money launderer Patrick Lawlor and his wife Leonie. (Image: Padraig O'Reilly) Judge Alexander Owens said that there is substantial value embedded in the home that is not the proceeds of crime. Last month the couple were granted legal aid for a junior counsel and a solicitor. At this week's sitting of the High Court, defence counsel for Lawlors' said they have not yet retained 'an expert witness,' and there is 'no agreement as yet.' The expert witness is a quantity surveyor to survey the property. 'They are still engaged with firms and I am suggesting an October date to allow them to engage an expert witness,' counsel said. Counsel for CAB said they are seeking a date in September to reply to the defendants' affidavits and requested the case be put into an October date for mention. Agreeing with the October date, Mr Justice Alexander Owens remarked: 'We need to get on with it.' 13/02/2025 - This is Leonie Lawlor photographed at her home at Collins Avenue West (Image: Padraig O'Reilly) None of the details of CAB's case against the couple have been opened in court. During the sentencing hearing in October 2022 for Lawlor and a taxi driver, Ross Hanway from Ashbourne, Co Meath, who was jailed for four years, Dublin Circuit Court heard that the transactions were lodged in ledgers kept by Patrick Lawlor. Lawlor received monthly cash payments of €5,000 while Hanway was initially paid €1,250, which rose to €4,000 by 2019. The court heard the men were only involved in money laundering and not in drugs. Hanway of The Beeches, Archerstown Demense, Ashbourne, Co Meath, pleaded guilty to possessing €412,000 on May 26, 2020, which was the proceeds of crime while Lawlor of Collins Avenue West, Whitehall, Dublin 9 pleaded guilty to possessing €412,000 on May 26, 2020 which was the proceeds of crime. Lawlor also pleaded guilty to possession of €477,370 in cash, £6,920 Sterling, 1,940 Romanian Lei (approximately €400), 187 Ukrainian Hryvnia Lei (approximately €5) and $3,295 US Dollars. Lawlor further pleaded guilty to possession of an encrypted mobile phone. Judge Melanie Greally said 'it does not take any leap of imagination to infer' that money seized by gardaí had originated from serious criminal activity. She said both Hanway and Lawlor Sr received financial rewards for their roles in the money laundering operation. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
Sunday World
05-07-2025
- Sunday World
Convicted gangland bagman wins legal aid in battle with CAB over Dublin home
Patrick Lawlor and his wife Leonie are contesting a Criminal Assets Bureau case against them in which their house on Collins Avenue West is being targeted A convicted gangland bagman has won free legal aid in his battle with the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) over his Dublin home. Patrick Lawlor and his wife Leonie are contesting a CAB case against them in which their house on Collins Avenue West is being targeted. Lawlor got a seven-year sentence in October 2022 after pleading guilty to handling almost €900,000 in criminal cash for which he was being paid €5,000 a month. The Sunday World previously revealed he had been working for a criminal network linked to veteran Irish gangster George 'The Penguin' Mitchell. At a High Court hearing last week, counsel for the couple said they are seeking legal aid and contested the valuation put on an extension and works to their house. Patrick Lawlor and his son Ian Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 5th It was also heard that Leonie Lawlor is continuing to pay the mortgage from legitimate income and that the house had been bought in 2007. The CAB case centres on income generated between 2010 and 2020. Judge Alexander Owens said that there is substantial value embedded in the home that is not the proceeds of crime. The judge said there are special circumstances in this case and he granted legal aid for a junior counsel and a solicitor. He previously ordered Patrick Lawlor to be produced in court from Shelton Abbey prison where he is serving his time after being asked by his son Ian to allow him attend court. Subsequently Lawlor complained in court he couldn't find a solicitor to fight CAB's bid to seize his family home. Lawlor, who is not due out of prison until 2028, said he has 'phoned about 30' without success. 'No-one is willing to do it,' he told Judge Owens. The judge said he could not understand that and he would hear an application for free legal aid if one is made. Last October, Leonie Lawlor told the court she has no access to money to fund a legal defence because her accounts have been frozen by CAB None of the details of CAB's case against the couple have been opened in court but it emerged at his trial, first reported by CCC Nuacht, that Lawlor had earned the equivalent of €100,000 working just a few days a month. It was also heard that following his arrest in 2020 a bank account was frozen while he was driving a 191-reg Mercedes at the time. The money laundering operation was for a criminal gang which had an income of almost €12 million in 2019. The trial judge said Lawlor played a 'central role' which would have been of 'critical importance' to the criminal organisation over a period of several years. He had received substantial amounts of money for his role, and had accumulated money, which was part of the cash seized by gardaí during the search.
