Update:
The following is the final list of seized items in relation to today’s operation in counties Clare and Tipperary.
- 85 cars seized
- 2 flatbed trucks seized
- 1 car transporter seized
- Cash in the amount of €21,000
*Approximate value of all vehicles seized €2,000,000
**A total of €209,000 has been restrained in financial accounts linked to the organised crime group.
The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), in conjunction Police Officers from the Economic Crime Bureau attached to West Midlands Police in the United Kingdom, have carried out an operation in Counties Clare and Tipperary as part of a cyber-fraud and money laundering investigation in the UK.
The CAB investigation is focussed on the assets of an international organised crime group who are suspected of laundering the proceeds of mandate fraud committed in the UK via a used car outlet in County Tipperary.
Searches were conducted at two residential premises and one business premises in County Clare as well as two residential and one business premises in County Tipperary.
The search of the one business premises in County Tipperary, a used car outlet, is ongoing.
So far this morning the following has been seized:
– In excess of 80 Cars with an approximate value of €2,000,000
– Cash in the amount of €21,000
– In excess of €200,000 has been restrained in financial accounts linked to the organised criminal group
This morning’s search operation involved CAB, the Emergency Response Unit, the Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit, the Garda National Immigration Bureau, the Garda Technical Bureau and were assisted by the Revenue Customs Dog Unit.
Speaking about today’s operation the Chief Bureau Officer, Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins said “Today’s search operation is an example of the ongoing cooperation between the Criminal Assets Bureau, An Garda Síochána and UK Police Forces in the investigation of International Organised Criminal Groups. Our activities are in furtherance of the CAB mission ‘to deny and deprive’.