Gerard Hutch remanded in custody in Spanish money laundering probe

Gerard 'The Monk' Hutch has been remanded in jail by Spanish authorities in connection with alleged money laundering offences.

Gerard 'The Monk' Hutch is believed to have been remanded in custody by Spanish authorities in connection with alleged money laundering offences.

The Irish crime boss, 61, was one of nine people brought before a judge in Lanzarote on Friday.

Two people were remanded in custody while seven others were released on bail.

The Canary Islands’ High Court said in a statement late last night: “The investigating magistrate has ordered the incarceration on remand without bail of the two alleged ringleaders and has ordered the provisional release of the other seven.

“The investigation continues, it is not closed, and the proceedings have been declared secret.”

All nine were arrested three days ago as part of a joint investigation involving the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigations and the Guardia Civil, who are the lead agency.

They appeared before a court in Arrecife in Lanzarote and the judge imposed a secrecy order on the case.

A close relative of Hutch is also understood to have been among those hauled to court in Spain.

Reports in Spain say Hutch’s Lanzarote B&Bs are "central" to the ongoing probe into money-laundering activities on the holiday island.

Local press said the accommodation was “the focus” of a large part of the investigation.

Searches took place at nearly a dozen locations earlier this week and the arrests were part of an operation targeting a transnational organised crime group suspected of involvement in money laundering across a number of jurisdictions.

Around 50 officers, including police from Tenerife and Aragon, reportedly took part in the search and arrest operation in Lanzarote, focusing on several locations in Arrecife as well as the holiday resorts of Puerto del Carmen and Playa Blanca.

Three vehicles were said to have been immobilised near the five-star Arrecife Gran Hotel & Spa at about 7am on Wednesday.

The number plates on the cars were covered with cardboard, with a strip of Civil Guard tape on them. One of the vehicles was a blue BMW and another a Ford.

Many of the raids took place before dawn.

Formal charges through indictments have yet to be laid but Hutch and the other suspects have now been made ‘investigados’ under Spanish law, which literally means they are “under investigation” on suspicion of committing crime.

The ongoing criminal probe will be conducted in private and is expected to last at least several months.

Hutch was acquitted last year of the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in Dublin, walking free from the Special Criminal Court.

He had been arrested in Spain in connection with that case.

Crime godfather Christy Kinahan Sr and his two sons, Daniel and Christopher, were arrested in 2010 on the Costa del Sol ahead of the brutal feud with the Hutch family, which claimed 18 lives in Ireland and Spain.

A court near Marbella spent more than a decade investigating them for alleged crimes of drugs and weapons trafficking, money laundering, and gang membership before it was announced only the so-called ‘Dapper Don’ would face trial for minor offences.

His trial date has yet to be decided.