CAB sets its sights on foreign crime bosses with assets here

LEGISLATION will soon allow the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) target foreign crime bosses with assets in Ireland.

The Government drew up the powers following a ruling in the Supreme Court last month that CAB did not have the authority to seize assets which were the proceeds of crime committed outside the State. The case was taken by a top British criminal whose house in Co Wicklow was seized by CAB in 2002 on foot of a High Court order.

The 63-year-old crime boss, who cannot be named for legal reasons, bought the house in the 1980s for £128,000 in cash using bank drafts from England.