Second-hand car dealership in Limerick was an ‘engine of fraud’

THE HIGH Court has declared that 111 cars and more than €20,000 which was seized from a second-hand car dealership in Limerick were the proceeds of crime.

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) had sought orders in respect of €820,000 which was generated from the sale of the vehicles which were seized from Stephen Bawn Motors Ltd trading as Bawn Motors, at Old Ballysimon Road, on the outskirts of the city in March 2019.

CAB claimed, during a hearing late last year, that the dealership was used by persons involved in criminality to launder significant amounts of money generated from the illegal drugs trade, and was involved in other criminal activity including VAT fraud.

The proceeds of the sales had remained frozen pending the outcome of CAB's application to the court.

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The company and a named individual - Mike Nash from Newcastle West - who claimed to have an interest in over 50 of the cars opposed the application and denied the claims.

However, in his ruling Mr Justice Alexander Owens said CAB had established the company was “an engine of fraud, fuelled by money-laundering”.

He accepted the company had benefited from “substantial funding from undisclosed sources” and that dozens of cars which were sold by the company “cannot be traced”.

Mr Justice Owens said some of the company’s business was conducted “in a proper fashion” but commented: “All that can be concluded is that the Bureau has advanced sufficient evidence to establish, prima facie, that its inventory and current account balance are derived substantially from proceeds of crime and that assets generated by its business operations have been generated using proceeds of crime or were acquired in connection with proceeds of crime.”