The High Court has found sufficient evidence at a preliminary stage that Stephen Bawn Motors Ltd’s vehicle inventory and bank balance were substantially derived from proceeds of crime. It ordered that most of the seized assets remain subject to an interlocutory order under proceeds-of-crime legislation.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Alexander Owens on 28 July 2023, concerns an application by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) under section 3(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act. The CAB alleged that proceeds of crime were channelled through the second-hand car business, which traded in Newcastle West and later at Ballysimon Road, Limerick. The company and Mike Nash disputed the allegations and challenged the CAB accountant’s analysis.
The court assessed whether the CAB’s belief evidence had reasonable grounds and whether the evidence established a prima facie case for each asset. It found that the company’s early financial records were unreliable, that substantial funding from undisclosed sources was the probable explanation for its growth, and that proceeds from sales of many cars could not be accounted for. The court also found false accounting and record-keeping, and failures to comply with VAT margin-scheme requirements. It said it could not quantify precisely how much of the assets indirectly represented crime proceeds, but concluded that the inventory and current-account balance were substantially derived from them.
The judgment discusses irregular transactions involving UK car suppliers, including missing or unreliable invoices and unusual payments. The court said those matters, alongside gaps in the company’s records, supported the CAB’s case. It rejected Mike Nash’s claim to own vehicles in the company’s 2019 inventory, finding that any interest he had arose from a profit-sharing arrangement involving cars bought with company money. It also rejected Shane Curtin’s claim to own cars bought and paid for by the company.
The court did not accept every part of the CAB’s case. It found insufficient evidence to support a conclusion that a Jaguar seized outside Nash’s home was controlled by him or involved in money laundering. It reached the same conclusion about a Ford Ranger, for which the judgment said there was no evidence linking its purchase to the company or crime proceeds. The net proceeds from the Jaguar and Ford Ranger are to be remitted to MN Fashions Ltd and Mike Nash, respectively.
The company is no longer trading and is insolvent. Its inventory had been realised and was being held by a receiver appointed under section 7 of the Act. The court ordered interlocutory relief over the other property, including the company’s frozen bank balance and the proceeds from cars found to have been acquired with or in connection with proceeds of crime. The ruling is a preliminary determination under the Act, not a final quantification of the criminal proceeds represented by the assets.