The State has dropped money laundering and tax charges against a woman who had been due to stand trial at the Special Criminal Court, just five days after her ex-IRA partner pleaded guilty to similar tax offences.
Jennifer Dunne (38), of Richmond, Blackrock, Co Dublin, had been accused of six money laundering offences relating to three AIB accounts between January 1st, 2018, and December 31st, 2019, and a further three counts of failing to furnish tax returns between October 31st, 2018 and October 31st, 2020.
At the Special Criminal Court on Tuesday, Dominic McGinn SC, for the State, told the non-jury court that certain documents had now been received by the State and that all nine charges against Ms Dunne were no longer being pursued by the Director of Public Prosecutions, in what is known as a 'nolle prosequi' application.
Ms Dunne had been charged with six counts of money laundering offences under Section 7 of Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act, 2010.
Ms Dunne had been charged with converting, transferring, handling, acquiring, possessing or using property, namely funds lodged to an AIB account on dates between January 1st, 2018, and December 31st, 2019, within the State, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property was the proceeds of criminal conduct.
She had also been charged with – while having addresses at Tasaggart House, Saggart, Co Dublin; Richmond, Blackrock, and another address in Dublin – that she failed without reasonable excuse to deliver to the Revenue Commissioners a full and true return for the purposes of capital acquisitions tax as required by section 46 (2) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 between October 31st, 2018, and October 2020.
Paul Greene SC, defending Ms Dunne, said that upon the application for entering the nolle prosequi his client should be "discharged from proceedings", which was then ordered by the three-judge court.
Ms Dunne was then free to leave and walked from the court building as all charges against her were dropped.
Last week at the non-jury court, her partner and ex-IRA man Nathan Kinsella (44), also of Richmond, Blackrock, who was due to go to trial over similar alleged money laundering offences, pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to furnish tax returns.
The three charges against Kinsella were that he failed without reasonable excuse to deliver to the Revenue Commissioners a full and true return for the purposes of capital acquisitions tax as required by section 46 (2) of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 between October 31st, 2018 and October 31st, 2020 while having addresses in Dublin.
Kinsella's case was put back to January 22nd for sentencing, while six charges of alleged money laundering against him were not pursued by the State.
Kinsella was jailed by the Special Criminal Court 10 years ago after a garda investigation into paramilitary activity at the funeral of dissident republican Alan Ryan.
The defendant had pleaded guilty to membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the Irish Republican Army, on September 13th, 2012 and was sentenced to two years.
Dissident republican Ryan was shot dead outside his home in Clongriffin in North Dublin in September 2012. Kinsella was himself shot two months later.
