House and cash belonging to sister of Regency Hotel murder victim seized by CAB
The Criminal Assets Bureau has confiscated a house and almost €27,000 as part of its ongoing operation against the Irish branch of the Kinahan crime cartel.
The bureau secured a High Court order against the house owned by Maria Byrne, the sister of Liam Byrne, described by CAB as the head of the Byrne Organised Crime Group, the Irish arm of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group.
Ms Byrne is also the sister of David Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel in February 2016 by the Hutch criminal network.
The High Court granted an order today after Ms Byrne agreed to hand over a house on Raleigh Square in Crumlin, south Dublin, along with €26,760 in a bank account to the CAB.
The court had already accepted that Ms Byrne was withdrawing €2,000 a month from her bank account on the same date each month, as her brother Liam was making monthly mortgage lodgements of the same amount.
CAB established that Ms Byrne got this money when she sold another house in Ashbourne, Co Meath and that €400,000 was lodged to her account and another €50,000 to Liam Byrne's account.
A five-day period had been set aside next week when Ms Byrne was expected to contest the confiscation of the property.
However, counsel for CAB told the court that an agreement had been reached and signed on consent.
It brings the total CAB has seized from the Byrnes' and their associates to three houses in Dublin worth over €1m, 25 high end and luxury cars, three electric bikes and a dune buggy; four Rolex and Breitling watches, two platinum and gold diamond rings and over €50,000 in cash.
Last July, the High Court ruled that two houses, one on Kildare Road, adjacent to Raleigh Square, and another in Clondalkin, west Dublin, were bought from the proceeds of crime.
The Clondalkin house was bought by Liam Byrne, while the Kildare Road house was bought by Sean McGovern, a close associate.
Among the other items seized by CAB, which the judge found came from the proceeds of crime, was a Rolex watch from McGovern and a 1.53 carat platinum diamond ring and a 3.6 carat white gold diamond ring from Simoan McEnroe, partner of Liam Byrne.
CAB has told the High Court that the evidence showing Liam Byrne’s involvement in drug trafficking and violent crime was “extensive” and “detailed”. The bureau said he was a "close and trusted associate" of Daniel Kinahan.
CAB has said that the day-to-day operations of the Kinahan OCG were being "managed and controlled" by Daniel Kinahan and his brother Christopher Junior, sons of Christopher Senior.
In court documents, CAB has said the cartel has associations that facilitated international criminal activity in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America.
