The Criminal Assets Bureau has obtained a High Court order to seize over €1 million in cash and cheques discovered earlier this month in a search of lands which included the residence of the alleged former IRA Chief of Staff Thomas "Slab" Murphy.
The cash and cheques were found in black plastic bags in a cattle shed sand bore the hallmarks of money laundering activities, by gardaí during a major cross-border operation, the court was told.
The extensive searches were carried out by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) assisted by local gardaí from the Louth/Meath division; customs officers and officers from the Revenue Commissioners; members of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation; the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Special Detective Unit. Simultaneous searches were carried out on the northern side of the border by the PSNI.
The order to appoint a receiver to take possession of Euro cash and cheques and Sterling cash and cheques was granted by the President of the High Court Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan earlier this week.
The application was brought by CAB on an ex-partebasis (only one side represented). The order was made under the Proceeds of Crime Act against Mr Thomas Murphy, also known as Tom "Slab" Murphy, Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, Co Louth, his brothers Mr Patrick Murphy, Ballybinaby, Hackballscross and Mr Francis Murphy, Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, and Ace Oils Ltd, with a registered office at Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, Co Louth.
The receiver was given power to lodge the cash and cheques in new accounts pending further orders of the court. The totals seized during the searches of land owned by the Murphy family were €256,235 and stg£111,185 in cash and cheques and drafts totalling €673,460.
In documents supplied to the court, the head of CAB, Detective Chief Superintendent Felix Mc Kenna said the cash and cheques were found in black plastic bags in a cattle shed owned by Mr Patrick Murphy adjacent to his residence.
Access to the shed was through a gate on a road on the Northern Ireland side of the border which opened out on to a farm complex owned by the Murphys and access from the southern side of the border was through a field registered in the name of Mr Patrick Murphy's wife, Rosemary.
Detective Chief Supt Mc Kenna said the Bureau has been investigating the Murphys for some considerable time. He said Tom, Frank and Patrick Murphy have for the past 20 years been involved in the oil distribution industry and oil smuggling and money laundering activities.
He said that Ace Oils Ltd continued to operate from the Murphy family farm which straddled the border with buildings in both jurisdictions. Smuggling was carried out from the farm to either Northern Ireland or the Republic depending on the price differential in each jurisdiction at particular times, he said.
Between April, 1989 and September 2005 there were sixteen seizures and detections of smuggled fuel made by customs officers which were linked to individuals known to have been working for the Murphys and Ace Oils Ltd.
"The fuel storage system at the Ace Oils yard was designed to facilitate cross border smuggling of fuel," Chief Supt McKenna said.
In another document supplied to the court by the CAB, an officer said the Murphy brothers have lived all their lives at Ballybinaby, Hackballscross and that Tom Murphy inherited the family home and a farm from his parents several years ago but has since transferred his interest in the property into the names of other members of his family.
The original home is surrounded by a yard and shed which contains oil storage tanks and the property is now the headquarters of Ace Oils Ltd, it was stated.