Online CAB auction sells goods for more than €400k

All items are fully authenticated and the net proceeds of the auction will be returned to the Exchequer. Picture: Wilsons Auctions

Luxury goods seized seized from criminals by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) have made more than €400,000 for the Exchequer during an online auction.

All 100 lots of luxury items including top-of-the-range Rolex, Breitling, Cartier, and Tag Heure watches, gold bars, fine jewellery, gold bars, and designer bags were sold by Wilsons Auction.

The most expensive item was a Rolex Day-Date 40, automatic with Roman numerals and gold hands which went for €30,100.

The Rolex Daytona automatic in 18-carat rose gold went for €26,200.

The items were estimated to be worth more than €500,000. The online auction which began on Friday finished on Monday at 2.30pm.

The Rolex Daytona automatic in 18-carat rose gold went for €26,200. Picture: Wilsons Auctions

All items are fully authenticated and the net proceeds of the auction will be returned to the Exchequer as they were seized due to being the proceeds of crime.

Ricky Wilson, director of Wilsons said: "We are delighted to be managing the sale for CAB. Wilsons Auctions is well-known for dealing with seized goods.

"All the money raised from this auction will be paid directly back into the State."

The online auction had over 350,000 hits within hours of opening last Friday with global interest from as far away as New Zealand, the USA, all across Europe, and from Ireland, said Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins.

CAB also sold 12 properties and 30 high-value vehicles in the last two months, he said.

“The Bureau targets criminals and criminal organisations of all shapes and sizes within communities regardless of their location," Det Chief Supt Gubbins said. 

These targets continue to flaunt their criminally acquired wealth through the purchase of items like those that are in today’s auction.

“The Bureau currently has 1,475 targets, 23 of which reside outside the state. Approximately half of the targets on our books reside within the Dublin Metropolitan Region and the remainder reside throughout the State.

Last year, CAB denied and deprived criminals of ill-gotten gains to the sum of €6.359m, according to the 2022 CAB annual report.

In 2022, CAB also returned in excess of €21,000 to an injured party.

CAB conducted 49 search operations in 2022 consisting of 134 individual searches in 20 counties. It obtained High Court orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 in respect of assets in 20 searches.

CAB is a State agency that confiscates the proceeds of crime. 

It was founded in 1996 following the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin who had been following the money trail of Irish organised crime and following the murder of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe.