Agency’s drug profits claim ‘rubbish’

John Breslin

The Assets Recovery Agency yesterday issued a press release on the settlement with Jonathan Alford, a 34-year-old Englishman who moved to Ireland around three years ago.

“The agency alleged that Mr Alford had purchased a property in Bath with the

proceeds of drug trafficking. It has accepted Mr Alford’s offer to settle of £84,253.16 (E121,594.07),” the agency said.

Mr Alford, who lived in Skibbereen, Co Cork, before moving to Waterford around 12 months ago, said the allegation that he profited from drug dealing was “absolutely disgraceful”.

“At the beginning I was accused of that, then it was all withdrawn,” he said.

He said the claim was first made by a former partner, who then withdrew the allegation.

However, Mr Alford said he had settled with the ARA, set up in 2002 as the British equivalent of the CAB, because there were outstanding tax issues he needed to resolve.

“There was tax not paid at the end of the day,” he admitted.

“This has plagued my life for the past three years ... I have been on medication, anti-depressants, the whole thing.

“It’s just outrageous that someone is still making claims about the drugs.

“That’s what they went on about at the start and I proved that wrong. I’m very, very unhappy about the whole thing,” he said.

Mr Alford said he was not told by the ARA that it was about to issue the statement alleging he had profited from drug trafficking.

“I feel that it’s been very unfair. They (the ARA) have all the details. They know drugs are not my scene. I have never had any convictions at all.”

The statement from the ARA, which wrongly gave Mr Alford’s address as being in West Cork, said Mr Alford bought the house in the historic city of Bath in 1998 for 202,000 and sold it in April 2002.

The local police force, the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, referred the case to the ARA, which froze the proceeds of the sale.

The ARA has the power to recover the proceeds of unlawful activity by a civil action in the High Court.

“We have made excellent progress in disrupting criminals by ensuring that assets have been taken out of circulation and cannot be used to fund even more crime,” said ARA director Jane Earl.

“We are doing everything that we can to bring cases to a conclusion to ensure that crime does not pay.”