Bank manager may have been blackmailed

GARDAÍ are investigating whether a bank manager was blackmailed into laundering money for a notorious drug dealing gangster and his associates.

The bank manager, in his 40s and from North Dublin, was arrested late last week and questioned by Criminal Assets Bureau investigators about allegedly laundering money for criminals linked to Amsterdam-based Dubliner George Mitchell.

A file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecution, who will decide whether charges will be pressed against the bank manager.

It is reported the manager used his own bank account to lodge and filter the money. Garda headquarters confirmed reports that a man was arrested in connection with a CAB investigation into alleged money laundering and a file has been sent to the DPP. Mitchell, nicknamed the ‘Penguin’, is thought to have made millions from the importation of ecstasy and heroin into Ireland.

The 56-year-old, who served 15 months in a Dutch prison for armed robbery some years ago, denied he was a drug dealer in his only known published interview shortly after he fled Ireland in 1996.

He left Ireland following the 1996 murder of crime journalist Veronica Guerin and is believed to be based in Amsterdam, where a number of Irish criminals are also in exile.

The CAB has targeted Mitchell in the past while other State agencies have been successful in disrupting his drug import operations in recent years.

The bank manager was arrested following a raid by CAB detectives on Friday. They are investigating links between the bank manager and four criminals and want to find out how much money was cleaned through the financial institution.