Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch left Lanzarote for his Costa del Sol hideaway the same day he was released from prison after stumping up €100,000 bail.
Court officials confirmed yesterday the 61-year-old had not had a travel ban slapped on him as part of his jail release conditions while he continues to be investigated for alleged money laundering after he argued it would harm his right to stand as a candidate in the upcoming General Election.
Locals living near his €450,000 penthouse in the popular holiday resort of Fuengirola saw him going into the building on Monday afternoon.
The property was raided a fortnight ago around the same time Hutch was being arrested at his family home in Lanzarote, before being remanded in prison by an investigating magistrate.
Police broke down the front door of the swish flat in a quiet tree-lined street to get in and left a gaping hole in its place after their court-authorised search.
Hutch was seen in Fuengirola, the first sighting of him there since summer, hours after court officials confirmed he had been allowed to walk free from Lanzarote’s tough Tahiche Jail.
A local who asked not to be named said: “I’m 100 per cent sure the man I saw was Gerry Hutch.
“He’s definitely been up to his apartment because I saw him walking into the block where he owns his penthouse.”
Another added: “At a guess I’d say he would have been clearing up the mess police left when they smashed down his door with a battering ram.”
It was not immediately clear today if Gerry was still on the Costa del Sol.
He bought the Fuengirola hideaway in July 2020. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom property is on the top floor of a modern six-storey apartment block a short drive away from the place he bunkered down in ahead of his August 2021 detention at an Italian restaurant called Limoncello on a European Arrest Warrant.
He was subsequently extradited to Dublin to face trial for the Regency Hotel murder of David Byrne but ended up being acquitted.
Hutch is the sole owner of the penthouse and also owns an underground car park space in a communal garage at the end of the road which he purchased around the same time.
The immaculate state of the apartment block where Gerry’s top-floor flat is makes it stand out from some of the more dated buildings surrounding it.
A sign in Spanish above the glass-plated front door warns: “Area controlled by security cameras.”
It leads into a short corridor lined with a large mirror above a grey-marble chip floor and a lift beyond it giving access to the five floors of residential flats above shops and other commercial premises on the ground floor.
Hutch was one of two of the nine suspects held in Lanzarote during dawn raids on October 23rd who were remanded in custody after a behind-closed-doors court hearing in the island capital Arrecife two days later.
The other is believed to be an alleged British associate who is still behind bars.
The Canary Islands’ High Court press office said yesterday in a new statement, confirming Hutch was free to travel to Ireland and revealing he had used his political aspirations to secure his freedom.
“With regards to the alleged leader of an international criminal gang who yesterday was provisionally released on bail of €100,000, Court of Instruction Number Two in Arrecife informs that apart from the aforementioned bail to ensure his presence at the trial, no other precautionary measures have been imposed.
“One of the main arguments taken into account by both the prosecutor in his favourable report on the conceding of bail and the investigating magistrate when taking the decision is that the person under investigation alleged in his appeal the withdrawal of his passport or other measures limiting his movements would prevent his free access to the elections.
“He alleged that would cause irreparable damage to his right to passive suffrage, which remains intact.
“Only a conviction can prevent him from standing for election. The other person remanded in prison on October 25th remains in prison. A secrecy order over the case is still in place."
Court officials have confirmed the Irish criminal is being investigated on suspicion of money laundering. Spanish police have yet to make any official comment and are not expected to do so all the time a judge-imposed secrecy order is still in place.
It was first reported last month that Hutch has been considering running as an Independent candidate in Dublin’s north inner city when the country goes to the polls.
