Gang member should have used 'cheap banger off Done Deal' to move €600k, judge says

The State has applied to take possession of a 2018-registered S-Class Mercedes from Thomas Rooney

Thomas Rooney pleaded guilty in July of last year to possessing €289,770 and £65,000 in crime cash in a blue Nike holdall. File photo:: Collins Courts

An international gang member caught moving "obscene" amounts of crime cash - over €600k - would have been better off driving "a cheap banger off Done Deal" rather than the €72k Mercedes used in the operation, a judge has remarked.

On Friday at the Special Criminal Court, the State applied to take possession of the 2018-registered S-Class Mercedes from Thomas Rooney (52), who has been described as a "mid-to-high" level member of the gang.