The High Court has made interlocutory orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 over three properties owned by John McCormack, finding on a prima facie basis that they were acquired, in whole or in part, with proceeds of crime.
In a judgment delivered on 20 July 2020, Mr Justice Alexander Owens ruled that the Criminal Assets Bureau had provided sufficient evidence to support its case concerning a house at Purcell Park in Shannon, land at Cloontra West in County Clare, and a house at Claughan Fort in County Limerick. The court said Mr McCormack had not shown, on the balance of probabilities, that any of the properties were acquired without connection to proceeds of crime.
The Bureau alleged that Mr McCormack had been a senior figure in serious criminal activity, including drug importation and supply, handling stolen goods and organising cash-in-transit robberies. The judge accepted evidence from a Detective Sergeant and two Chief Bureau Officers as supporting the Bureau’s case. He also considered tax and social welfare records, bank and credit union accounts, and evidence about business activities and property in Fuerteventura.
For Purcell Park, bought in 1995, the judge found no reliable evidence of legitimate income sufficient to explain the deposit and purchase fees. He also concluded that mortgage payments from 1995 to 2015 were, apart from brief periods when accounts held personal injury compensation, prima facie sourced from criminal proceeds. He did not count the conservatory added in 2005 as an improvement affecting the property’s value, because no evidence established that impact.
Cloontra West was bought in 2005 for €18,000 and later developed with a yard, arena, shed, stables and kennels. The judge found the purchase and development were prima facie funded by criminal proceeds, while noting he could not assess the value added because the planning status of the works was unclear. Claughan Fort was bought in 2011 for €55,000. The judge found the source of the purchase funds unexplained and rejected Mr McCormack’s account that used machinery had been exchanged for the house.
The judge described Mr McCormack’s explanations as unconvincing and said the evidence did not establish legitimate sources for the funds used to acquire and develop the properties. He also found that rents from Cloontra West and Claughan Fort were proceeds of crime because they came from assets acquired with such proceeds.
The orders are interlocutory. The judgment records a provisional, prima facie determination under section 3(1); it does not describe a final confiscation order. The Bureau did not seek orders over the four properties in Fuerteventura, though the judge considered their financing as relevant evidence.