Former IRA man owes CAB €500,000

A former IRA member arrested with his wife by Spanish police investigating a multi-million smuggling and money laundering operation is currently repaying close to €500,000 to the Criminal Assets Bureau here.

Leonard Hardy and his wife Donna, also a former IRA member, were detained along with five others by an elite Spanish unit during which 11 properties, worth over €5.5m, were confiscated and 90 bank accounts frozen.

Spanish authorities have estimated in the region of €10.5m had been laundered by the network, which is suspected of being engaged in cigarette smuggling and illicit alcohol sales.