· CAB returned in excess of €3.8 million to the Exchequer in 2014
· CAB brought 10 new proceeds of crime proceedings before the High
Court obtaining freezing orders to the value of €6.76m.
Frances Fitzgerald TD, Minister for Justice and Equality, has today laid
the Annual Report on the activities of the Criminal Assets Bureau for 2014
before the Houses of the Oireachtas. This is the nineteenth Annual Report
of the Bureau since its establishment in 1996.
Minister Fitzgerald stated: “I wish to commend the staff of the Bureau on
their continued commitment to the pursuit and seizure of the proceeds of
crime as illustrated in this Report. I also want to acknowledge the
significant profile the Bureau maintains at international level as part of
the global effort to trace and remove from circulation the ill gotten gains
of criminal activity.
“The Report highlights the co-ordinated, multi agency approach to targeting
the proceeds of criminal conduct deployed by the Bureau which is widely
acknowledged as best practice in this field. The Criminal Assets Bureau is
an essential component in the State’s law enforcement response to serious
and organised crime and the Government is committed to fully supporting its
work.”
The Bureau utilises the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime, Revenue and
Social Welfare legislation in targeting the proceeds of crime generated
from a range of criminal activities most notably the proceeds generated by
serious criminals involved in the trafficking and sale of drugs but also
proceeds generated through other criminal activity including oil fraud.
Minister Fitzgerald added: “I welcome the Bureaus increased focus on
organised travelling criminal groups primarily engaged in burglary and
robbery as highlighted in the report.”
The Report also highlights other activities undertaken by the Bureau during
the year including cross border cooperation, the development of a new Asset
Confiscation and Tracing Investigators Course in conjunction with the Garda
College and, at international level, leading on an EU Project for the
establishment of the Association of Law Enforcement Forensic Accountants
Network with the aim of developing the quality and reach of forensic
accountancy through law enforcement agencies.
During 2014, the Bureau returned in excess of €3.8 million to the
Exchequer, including €0.467m returned under Proceeds of Crime legislation,
€3.017m collected under Revenue legislation and €0.336m recovered in Social
Welfare overpayments. In addition, the Bureau brought 10 new proceeds of
crime proceedings before the High Court obtaining Interim Orders (freezing
orders) to the value of €6.76m. Furthermore, taxes and interest demanded
during the year was valued at over €14 million and social welfare savings
amounted to over €190,000.
Ends.../
Notes for Editors:
The Annual Report is laid before the Houses pursuant to Section 21 of the
Criminal Assets Bureau Act 1996.
The Criminal Assets Bureau was established by Government in 1996. The
Bureau’s remit is to target the assets, wherever situated, of persons which
derive or are suspected to derive, directly or indirectly, from criminal
conduct.
The Bureau is a statutory body with staff drawn from An Garda Síochána, the
Office of the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Social Protection
and the Department of Justice and Equality. The current staffing level of
the Bureau is 71.
Asset profilers trained by the Bureau continue to provide a criminal asset
profiling service in each Garda Division in relation to persons or suspects
operating within their area, with particular reference to those involved in
drug dealing and serious criminal activity.
The number of trained Garda Asset Profilers currently stands at 138 plus 15
Revenue Customs and 3 Social Protection trained assets profilers, making a
total of 156 throughout the country.
Since its statutory inception in October 1996 and up to 31 December 2014
the Bureau:
· Has obtained interim orders (freezing orders) to the value of over
€79 million, £18,783,372STG and US$6,633,049 and Interlocutory Orders
(final restraint orders) to the value of over €50 million, £3,080,498
STG and $6,077,710 USD;
· Taxes and interest demanded was over €253 million, with over € 147
million collected; and
· Made social welfare savings of over €7.2 million and recoveries of
almost €3.3 million.
The Annual Report is available on the website of the Department of Justice
and Equality (www.justice.ie).