Criminal Assets Bureau inquiry exposes underground ‘banking’ network

An investigation by the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) unearthed an underground “banking” network offering an international money transfer system never previously discovered in the Republic. It allowed Irish crime gangs, mainly involved in the drugs trade, to move cash to continental Europe without the cash ever leaving the country and without leaving any trace.

The system was run by a network of Chinese restaurants, in Ireland and continental Europe, with the Irish criminals paying handling fees of up to 9 per cent to the Chinese group operating the system in the Republic.

If an Irish crime gang wanted to move several hundred thousand euros in one transaction, they surrendered, or “lodged”, the money at a designated restaurant in Ireland. An associate of their choice could then collect, or “withdraw”, the same sum from another restaurant in a European city of their choice.

The system was effectively run on trust between the Irish crime gangs and Chinese group in Ireland and also between the participating restaurants in different parts of Europe. The role of restaurants in Ireland was isolated.

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Garda sources said it was an Irish version of the Hawala system which originated in Asia hundreds of years ago. Hawala brokers, which operate outside any regulation worldwide, receive a sum of money in one country enabling the same sum to be collected from another designated broker in another part of the world.

The system that was operating in Ireland, and which was being used by criminals including Kinahan cartel associates, was a small network not linked to the Hawala system. By using the service, Irish gangs could avoid the risk of their cash being discovered while being smuggled out of the country via ports or airports to pay suppliers and other associates in continental Europe.

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It came to light during a Cab inquiry following searches carried out in Dublin and Wicklow in 2020 and which continues to the current day. While an assets-confiscation Cab case is ongoing against several suspects, others are also facing criminal charges relating to the financial services offered to Irish gangs in the Republic.

In an interview with The Irish Times the head of Cab, Det Chief Supt Michael Gubbins, said the case was a reflection of the ever-changing nature of organised crime in the Republic and increasingly closer links between Irish and international groups.

Det Chief Supt Gubbins also said the bureau has witnessed an increasing number of Irish criminals spending large amounts of money on their appearance, including cosmetic dentistry, tanning and grooming. He said the current generation of criminals, like their peers, appeared to be influenced by Instagram and reality television.

“I think it’s an expression of wealth, all of these [cosmetic] procedures cost money,” he said. “There’s no room for subtlety in this [criminal] world and anything that says, ‘look at me, I’m successful’, they go for it,” he said.

“The average drug dealer now has the white teeth, his hair is groomed, he’s got a tan. That’s brand new and it’s widespread, it’s all-pervasive. That would never have been there before, it would have been seen as a weakness [in gangland] if you were vain.”