THE SUCCESS of the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) in seizing €630,000 from Thomas “Slab” Murphy represents just one element of a major assets investigation into the alleged former IRA chief of staff and some of his family members.
Thomas “Slab” Murphy is still facing criminal charges at the Special Criminal Court in relation to his failure to make tax returns.
Murphy’s brothers, Frank and Patrick, have reached a settlement with the Revenue Commissioners believed to be over €1 million.
Frank Murphy and his wife Judy also reached a settlement this week with the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) in the UK for £445,000 (€573,000).
That settlement relates to the equity in nine properties in the northwest of England.
The houses represent a small percentage of a property portfolio in the UK which has been linked to Thomas “Slab” Murphy.
Two years ago, Cab and the UK’s now defunct Assets Recovery Agency carried out a series of raids in Dundalk and Manchester as part of an investigation into 250 properties, mainly in the UK, linked to Murphy.
A much smaller number of houses in Manchester were linked to Frank Murphy at the time.
While Frank Murphy has now settled with Soca, the status of the investigation into the much larger number of houses was not clear last night. A Soca spokeswoman declined to comment on the case.
Cab, Revenue and Soca actions against the Murphys have all focused on money generated by three fuel companies based in Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, Co Louth, where some of the Murphy family is based. The companies smuggled and laundered fuel and evaded tax on the proceeds.
The first company which operated on a formal basis from Ballybinaby was Cowan Oils Ltd. Registered in 1983, its directors were Rosemary Murphy – who is married to Patrick Murphy – and Judy Murphy. The company folded in the mid-1980s after tax assessments against it were not paid.
When this liquidation took place, a new company called Trillfield Ltd was formed. This traded in fuel from the same address in Ballybinaby as Cowan Oils.
The directors of Trillfield Ltd were Thomas “Slab” Murphy and his sister, Ann Kirk, Drumkeith, Inniskeen, Co Monaghan.
Trillfield Ltd came to the attention of Revenue in the early 1990s when tax assessments were raised against it. The company was wound up a short time later.
At about the same time, Ace Oils Ltd was established at the same address in Ballybinaby.
The directors were Ann Brennan (39), Cornonagh, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, and Joseph McEntee (32), the Crescent, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh. Neither of them was ever traced by gardaí.
A third director of the now defunct Ace Oils Ltd was Ronan Kirk (32), Drumkeith, Inniskeen, Co Monaghan. Kirk is a nephew of Thomas “Slab” Murphy and is Ann Kirk’s son.
Kirk was convicted in 2005 after being detected crossing the Border into Co Monaghan with an oil tanker containing laundered fuel. The vehicle was confiscated. He was fined €1,900.