The Criminal Assets Bureau has taken control of two properties owned by an alleged cross-Border fuel smuggler.
The properties, owned by Patrick Belton (46), are believed to have a combined worth of around €600,000.
The High Court in Dublin heard that Mr Belton told mortgage lenders he was working as a forecourt manager at a Belfast filling station, earning £40,000 a year, when he bought the houses in Co Louth and Co Monaghan in 2000 and 2001.
The majority of monthly payments were made in cash or third-party cheques.
But investigators proved that Mr Belton was almost continuously on social welfare either in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland from 1992 to 2004 and paid little or no tax in either jurisdiction during the same time.
Mr Justice Keven Feeney ruled that Mr Belton had no legitimate source of income when he bought the properties.
"The evidence before the court establishes that the defendant is the owner of both properties and the sole person whose name appears on the mortgages," he said. "The court is satisfied that the defendant is in control of the premises and that both premises are a property within the meaning of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996."
Detective Chief Superintendent John O'Mahoney, CAB's current Chief Bureau Officer, told the court he believed Mr Belton had been a prolific smuggler from at least 1998 up until 2005.
The court was also told Mr Belton had previously made a settlement of £144,000 with the Northern Ireland Assets Recovery Agency.
PA