Woman loses State job as gardaí uncover links to Kinahan gang

A WOMAN working in a sensitive State office was used by the Kinahan cartel in a bid to hide the proceeds of crime, it can be revealed.

A significant CAB investigation uncovered a wide range of methods used by Liam Byrne and his associates to launder their ill-gotten gains – including using people with no involvement in crime.

Investigators are in the process of seizing some €2.7m worth of assets from what was described in court as the “Liam Byrne organised crime group”.

It has now emerged that one of the people used to register vehicles to disguise ownership for ‘top-tier’ Dublin associates of the cartel was a woman who was employed in a State office.

The female, who is in her 30s, was employed at the time of the CAB probe in a department which contained “highly sensitive” information.

It is understood that she was used to register a vehicle to a cartel associate. She has no involvement in criminality, which is why she was used to register the vehicle, gardaí believe.

They do not consider her a member of the crime gang, despite the fact that she assisted the gang’s efforts to hide the proceeds of crimes.

However, she is a close associate of jailed Kinahan gang member Glen Byrne (40), who was imprisoned earlier this month after being caught with €350,000 belonging to the mob.

On June 24, 2017, Byrne was caught in possession of €350,000 at a Dublin car wash.

A source told the Irish Independent that the woman’s name appeared in the Garda investigation into the cartel’s Dublin mob and that as a result she was no longer employed in the State office. Gardaí had concerns that she may have had access to files pertinent to ongoing investigations.

However, in a previous statement to the Irish Independent, the State office in question said there was no internal investigation into the person accessing sensitive files.