Court hears Garda helicopter filmed brothers with €70k stuffed in jars and plastic bag

Judge Mitchell was told it would be alleged a garda in an Air Support Unit helicopter saw four males standing beside a mini digger, operated by another man, in a five-acre field in Rathcoole. File picture

Two brothers have been accused of having about €70,000 of crime proceeds stuffed in coffee jars and a plastic bag in a Dublin field after they were allegedly captured on film by a Garda helicopter.

Thomas Wall, a 26-year-old father of two, with an address at Fortunestown Lane, Jobstown, Dublin and his brother Michael Wall, 27, a father-of-three, who lives at Fortunestown Lane, Jobstown, were arrested on Friday by officers from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB).

They have been charged under section seven of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act for having proceeds of crime on August 14 last in Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. It can carry a maximum 14-year sentence.

They appeared before Judge Alan Mitchell at Cloverhill District Court today for a bail application.

Garda Marguerite Reilly and Garda Kate Gilligan, of the Special Crime Task Force, objected on the grounds of the seriousness of the case.

They told the court that officers with the GNDOCB and the Garda Air Support Unit were involved in the investigation.

Judge Mitchell was told it would be alleged a garda in an Air Support Unit helicopter saw four males standing beside a mini digger, operated by another man, in a five-acre field in Rathcoole.

The Air Support Unit relayed its observations to GNDOCB members on the ground. Two males were seen walking from the digger to another location in the field.

GNDOCB officers then entered the field and were directed by their colleagues in the helicopter to the two men’s location.

It was alleged gardaí recovered four coffee jars “filled with cash” and another large amount was in a plastic bag were found in the field.

It was alleged the pair were seen leaving the digging site and then walk or run to the area where the cash was recovered.

The brothers were arrested and when questioned they claimed they were in the field to put up fencing posts for horses.

The garda witnesses agreed with defence solicitor Lorraine Stephens that video footage obtained by the helicopter was disjointed.

They also accepted that the digger driver has said he was commissioned to dig a trench in the field for fence posts.

The solicitor said her clients would abide by bail conditions. They made no attempt to flee and had already presented their defence to gardaí, she submitted.

Both of them offered to lodge €1,000 cash and family members were present for the hearing. The defendants did not address the court.

Judge Mitchell denied bail and remanded them in custody to appear again on September 1 next for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions to be obtained.

Legal aid was granted to the pair. Judge Mitchell noted they were unemployed and their statements of means said they had “nil income and no assets”.