Kinahan thug’s seized9 properties up for sale
Plush €550k cottage to be auctioned off
THE Kinahan cartel supremo Ross Browning’s plush countryside property, seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau, is set to go under the hammer to the highest bidder.
The luxury property, Chestnut Lodge in Garristown, north county Dublin, was taken into the possession of the CAB as part of a €1.4million case against Browning and several of his family members.
It consists of an adjoining two storey brick built house, a large commercial warehouse, three stables plus an expansive tarmacked yard.
The property, on 3.2 acres, was purchased partly with Browning’s drug money, the High Court ruled.
At a hearing last year, Judge Alexander Owens appointed a receiver to take charge of the property. Officers from the CAB swooped last July to officially seize it.
It is now for sale by public auction which will take place online in two weeks’ time, with an Advised Minimum Value of €550,000.
Money from the sale will go to the Exchequer and a percentage will go to some of Browning’s family who used their own funds to renovate the property.
At the High Court hearing of the CAB case it was revealed Browning’s house featured an “escape hatch” concealed with a hanging carpet which led from the house to the warehouse.
A motorbike was at the foot of the escape hatch which a senior detective said in an affidavit “was clearly there for Browning’s use”.
The property was deemed the proceeds of crime by the High Court last year and Browning, originally from Hardwicke Street in Dublin’s inner city, didn’t challenge the €1.4million Criminal Assets Bureau Case against him.
However, several members of his family denied CAB’S claim and said money used came from legitimate sources.
In his judgment, Judge Alexander Owens said Browning’s mother Julie Conway and her partner ex-garda David O’brien, who had been living in Chestnut Lodge, be allowed part of the proceeds from the sale of the renovated cottage because they had put some of their own money into it.
This included €40,000 borrowed from the Garda Credit Union.
In his judgment Judge Owens said that although Browning’s name was not on the properties they were controlled by him, his partner Sinead Mulhall and his mother
Julie Conway.
A number of other family members were named in the
CAB case as being used to disguise Browning’s involvement. These included his sisters Cheryl and Robin, his aunt Lesley Conway, his late grandfather William Conway and his second cousin Ian O’heaire.
Browning was described in court as the Kinahan Cartel’s No1 man in Ireland being at the heart of an international crime gang involved in €1billion worth of illegal activities.
He tried to disguise his drug money through his family members who in return enjoyed his generosity when it came to cars, jewellery and travel, the CAB case claimed.
His associates named in the case included Daniel Kinahan, Liam Byrne and Freddie Thompson, who is serving life for a feud related murder. Defence counsel said Browning’s family members gave the undertaking to vacate the properties.
Gardai are still investigating Browning’s role in a number of Cartel operations over the past number of years and he is closely monitored at all times.