The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is seeking to identify the whereabouts of Daniel Kinahan in its bid to seize a luxury mansion in west Dublin for the benefit of the State, the High Court has heard.
Senior Kinahan cartel associate Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh has been served papers in the CAB’s attempts to seize the property linked to Daniel Kinahan and jailed businessman Jim Mansfield Jnr, the court was told this morning.
The court heard the bureau is still trying to serve papers on Daniel Kinahan, who remains in Dubai. Shelley Horan BL, acting for CAB, said she will update the court on those efforts on June 21st as the bureau continues its inquiries.
Ms Horan also informed the court that Kavanagh, currently in Belmarsh Prison in the UK, was given an opportunity to participate in Tuesday morning's proceedings either by appointing a solicitor or by video link.
She said when a garda spoke to Kavanagh through a cell door at Belmarsh, the garda explained to him that the CAB had presented evidence to the High Court and had begun proceedings to seize property at Saggart in south Dublin.
When asked if he wished to participate, Kavanagh replied: "I don't want to talk to you, go away."
The papers were served on Kavanagh by pushing them under the cell door and, Ms Horan said, the garda saw Kavanagh pick them up.
Ms Horan said a member of the Metropolitan Police also explained to Kavanagh that he could appoint a solicitor or represent himself but when asked if he would like to attend Kavanagh replied: "No comment."
Ms Horan said she was not looking for the court to make any order today but wanted to satisfy that papers have been served on Kavanagh.
Kinahan address
In relation to Daniel Kinahan, she said it is the bureau's case that the property in question is potentially owned by him and that he is a crucial participant in the proceedings.
She said the bureau is still looking for information on the appropriate address for Kinahan and said she may ask the court for a "substitute" on the next date.
It was suggested at a previous hearing that Kinahan could be served via email, through his associates or by social media.
Mr Justice Michael MacGrath adjourned the proceedings until June 21st.
Last month, CAB began proceedings aimed at seizing a luxury property in south Dublin, alleging that Daniel Kinahan and Kavanagh gave Jim Mansfield Jnr two suitcases containing €4.5 million which was to be invested in property for the cartel.
That deal collapsed when Mansfield's finances suffered during the economic downturn, but it is alleged that Mansfield Jnr later reached a deal with the cartel to repay them by giving them the house at Coldwater Lakes in Saggart.
At the previous hearing in April, CAB said Kinahan has effectively owned the property since 2014.
CAB must serve papers on the various respondents in the case before it can seize the property.
Mansfield and his brother, Patrick Joseph Mansfield, have already consented to an order waiving any claim over the property. Kinahan is now the only respondent yet to be served.
Property magnate
Last February, the Special Criminal Court jailed Jim Mansfield Jnr in an unrelated case for 18 months.
The one-time property magnate had ordered the destruction of CCTV footage showing him with a former employee on the morning the employee was kidnapped by republican terrorists Dessie O'Hare and Declan 'Whacker' Duffy.
The court noted that Mansfield Jnr "stood and watched" as his former security guard Martin Byrne was taken by the notorious criminals and "placed in great danger".
Sentencing Mansfield Jnr, presiding judge Mr Justice Alexander Owens said the defendant had decided to suppress the potential evidence of his involvement with "notorious kidnapper" O'Hare and Duffy and that his actions fell into the category of "foolish and selfish criminality, whose efforts did not succeed".
The three-judge court found that when the convicted man ordered the CCTV footage to be destroyed, he knew there would be a major criminal investigation, including an examination of his role in these events.
"He did it to distance himself from any involvement with Declan Duffy and Dessie O'Hare and to hide his association with gangsters," Mr Justice Owens added.
