Gilligan charged after trying to get on flight with €23,000 in bag
CRIMINAL John Gilligan has been charged with money laundering offences after he was stopped with €23,000 cash while trying to board a flight.
The 66-year-old was stopped trying to flee through Belfast Airport this week with a suitcase containing the cash.
His solicitor told a court in Northern Ireland how there was a threat against Gilligan’s life and he had been ordered out of Ireland. Gilligan sold almost everything he owns and was fleeing for Spain.
Details of Gilligan’s attempt to leave the country via Belfast International Airport were revealed at North Antrim Magistrates Court sitting in Coleraine yesterday.
Gilligan, with an address listed at Greenforth Crescent, Dublin, was formally charged with attempting to remove criminal property from Northern Ireland.
In court, Gilligan spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.
Following the hearing, he was remanded in custody after his lawyer’s application for bail was refused. The judge accepted a prosecution submission that Gilligan was a flight risk.
Earlier in court, an officer from the National Crime Agency described how the defendant had been stopped in the airport and questioned by members of the UK Border Force.
When he was asked if he was carrying drugs or cash, the officer said Gilligan replied that he had €23,000 in his luggage.
The court heard a search of a suitcase removed from the plane revealed two bundles of cash totalling €22,280.
He was arrested and taken to Antrim Police Station where he told officers the money had been gathered from the sale of property and contributions of relatives. The court heard he also told officers he was under a death threat and had been ordered out of Ireland.
The NCA officer said objections to bail were based on the fact Gilligan was a flight risk and a citizen of the Republic of Ireland with no fixed abode.
The officer also said he was at risk of committing further offences to recoup his losses, adding that he’d served 17 years of a 28-year sentence.
Under questioning by a defence lawyer, the officer acknowledged Gilligan had given a detailed explanation for the cash. However, he added: “As to the veracity of the explanation, I’m not so sure.”
The lawyer insisted the explanation was “very compelling” before telling the court: “He has, over recent months, sold almost everything he has in the world in order to get the required funds to get out... and make a fresh start in Spain.”
The lawyer went on to explain his client had received the last rites after being shot six times in 2014 and was no longer “a well man”.
He said Gilligan had not “been in any bother” or come to the attention of An Garda Síochána since his release from prison.
The lawyer added that his client was prepared to live with his sister in Dublin and abide by any bail conditions imposed by the court.
Despite defence assurances, District Judge Alan White refused to grant the bail application.
Gilligan was remanded in custody to appear again at Antrim Magistrates Court on September 4.