Alleged Hutch associate James ‘Mago’ Gately and his partner subsidised their “exotic” lifestyle with crime proceeds, a High Court judge has found.
Ruling on Wednesday, Mr Justice Alexander Owens concluded that the family home of Mr Gately and Charlene Lam at Glynn Drive, Coolock, Dublin, was purchased and renovated to a “very high standard” with funds that were “overwhelmingly” crime proceeds.
A Volkswagen Golf and a Rolex watch, which the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) seized in 2019, were also likely purchased with crime proceeds, he said.
The judge said the couple were “virtually never in the State”, but rather spent their time in airport terminals and on cruises of the South Seas and the Caribbean. He believed all of this was funded with proceeds of crime.
His findings in the CAB’s case are based on the civil standard of proof, which is the “balance of probabilities”.
The bureau claimed Mr Gately is heavily involved in organised crime and its barrister, David Dodd, previously said it was not disputed that he was a member of the Hutch organised crime gang. The court was told Mr Gately has been arrested in relation to a number of serious offences, although he was not convicted of them.
The couple denied the allegations and argued the assets were acquired with legitimate funds. They were granted free legal aid to fight the case.
The court heard Mr Gately said he has not worked since 2015 due to a threat on his life, while their lawyers said Ms Lam, as a self-employed beautician who has no connection with crime, pays general living expenses and the mortgage on the family home.
Mr Gately was shot five times in May 2017 by the driver of a car that pulled up beside him at a petrol station on Clonshaugh Road. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Kinahan gunman Caolan Smyth (31) for attempted murder.
The Director of Public Prosecutions alleged Smyth was the driver and shooter.
In his ruling at the High Court on Wednesday, Mr Justice Owens said he would give Mr Gately and Ms Lam an opportunity to explain how they paid their mortgage between April 2019 and now, and he would assess whether this was done using crime proceeds.
The house at Glenn Drive was “overwhelmingly” funded with illegitimate funds, but about €6,500 likely came from a payout to Ms Lam from a personal injuries action.
That amount will be deducted from any order he makes concerning their assets and funds, he said. There was also a deduction to be made for the import duty paid on the vehicle, he said.
The judge said he found Ms Lam’s affidavit to the court to be “distinctly unreliable”, and the couple had endless opportunities to explain the situation but “spun out” this case for two years longer than needed.
He gave the bureau’s receiver the power to sell the vehicle and the watch.
