Man has €148,500 confiscated as 'proceeds of crime'

A man has had €148,500 confiscated and forfeited to the State after a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court judge ruled it represented the proceeds of crime.

Peter Brady (aged 49) of Castleview Rise, Swords, was caught with the cash while he was about to board a flight to Amsterdam in Dublin Airport on April 15, 2008. He had a one-way ticket.

Mr Brady told customs officers he was going to Holland in order to research gym equipment as he was considering starting up a body building business with another man.

He claimed he had saved the cash over 30 years during his work as a plasterer and through the sale of his home.

Mr Brady had stated in a sworn affidavit that he did not deal with banks. He said he would lodge wage cheques into his bank account but then withdraw the money in cash.

Judge Patricia Ryan had previously asked Mr Brady to provide documentation detailing where he had converted the punts he had saved previous to 2002 into euro, but he did not provide such evidence.

Mr Brady did not give a name to custom officers of the man he was going into business with but had a letter from a man in court today stating that he had considered going into a body building business with Mr Brady many years ago.

Mr Brady said in his affidavit that he had earned a net wage of €130,000 between 2004 and 2007 and added that he had “saved a lot and borrowed little”.

Judge Ryan said she was satisfied “on the balance of probabilities” that the cash seized by customs officers represented the proceeds of crime and was “not satisfied that it represented savings by Mr Brady over 30 years”.

She said she believed that it was intended for use by Mr Brady in criminal activity and ordered that it be confiscated and forfeited to the State.