Wheelie bin cleaner has €75,000 declared 'dirty cash'

The judgment, given by Mr Justice Alexander Owen, follows an investigation and court applications by the Criminal Assets Bureau.

A man cleaning wheelie bins has had €75,000 declared the proceeds of crime after the High Court ruled it was part of a scheme to wash dirty money.

Graham Whelan from Crumlin, south Dublin, was described by the court as a “significant importer of drugs”, associated with a “major crime gang”.

The judgment, given by Mr Justice Alexander Owen, follows an investigation and court applications by the Criminal Assets Bureau.

The court heard that during an operation on January 31, 2019, gardaí caught Whelan in a room in the Intercontinental Hotel in Dublin with a drugs “tick list” — detailing drugs transactions — as well as six mobile phones.

One of the phones was an “Encrochat” encrypted phone, “commonly used by sophisticated drug dealers and other criminals”.

In addition, gardaí found an “Audemars Piguet” watch worth €28,000, as well as a small amount of cash.

Whelan was convicted in the Special Criminal Court last November of money laundering offences in relation to the watch and cash.

Mr Justice Owen said Whelan, aged 39, had no employment history according to Revenue, nor had he received social welfare.

His first taxable income was in 2018, which is income from then to 2020 stemming from his business of “Wheelie Clean”.

Accounts show legitimate trading in the business, from cleaning wheelie bins for householders, businesses, and waste operators.

The court heard bureau evidence that Whelan was a “career criminal”.

Mr Justice Owen said: “It is clear that Graham Whelan was involved in organised crime long before 2019 and that he engaged in substantial drug dealing and other serious criminal activities. 

"Garda intelligence is that he operated as a significant importer of drugs and is associated with a major crime gang.” 

He said that between 2010 and 2015 he received nearly €38,000 in money transfers through Western Union, adding: “Most of this money came from well-known Dublin criminals or their associates.” 

The case centred around a lodgement of €75,000 into a current account of Whelan at AIB Bank in Crumlin. The money had been transferred as a loan from a current account of John Wilson, who was married to Whelan’s aunt.

Mr Justice Owen said he had concluded there were reasonable grounds for the belief of Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins, bureau chief, that the money which came from Mr Wilson was acquired by Whelan as part of a money-laundering exercise, which he planned to repay from the proceeds of crime.