CAB wins case to seize houses of crime boss

THREE properties in the west of Ireland owned by a Clare man alleged to be a senior figure in organised crime were bought with the proceeds of crime, a High Court judge ruled yesterday.

John McCormack, 48, with previous addresses in Shannon, Co. Clare; Roxboro, Co. Limerick and the Canary Islands, and who denied the accusation, had a judgment registered against him in respect of the properties.

In his judgment, Judge Alexander Owens said he was satisfied that McCormack owns residences at Purcell Park, Shannon and Cloontara West, both in Co. Clare, and Claughan Fort in Co. Limerick.

He noted that McCormack also owned properties in Fuerteventura, Spain. Judge Owens added that the Criminal Assets Bureau’s case had been ‘that since the 1990s, Mr McCormack has been involved as a leader in organised criminal activities which have included the import and supply of large quantities of controlled drugs, dealing in stolen goods and organising cash-in-transit robberies’.

The judge noted that McCormack was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment on February 14, 1994.

He said he did not accept McCormack’s evidence that he had reformed and rehabilitated himself, adding the evidence instead pointed to an escalation of criminal activity.

McCormack had a joinery business, dealt in plant-hire equipment and sheds, horses and dogs, which he claimed had accounted for the income needed for the purchases.

CAB was not making any claim on four further properties in Fuerteventura but the judge noted that the bureau raised issues on how they were being financed.

Judge Owens said the funding of McCormack’s purchases and expenses could not be accounted for by the sources of income identified – selling pedigree dogs, wedding presents, rental of machinery, selling gates, rental of the sheds in Cloontra West and the house at Claughan Fort, lottery wins and dealing in used and antique cars.