A senior Kinahan cartel figure has been jailed for seven years and three months for laundering crime cash, while his wife and former mistress have received fully suspended sentences at the Special Criminal Court.
The trio appeared in court on Friday, with Declan Brady in the dock as he is already serving a sentence.
Deirdre Brady hugged family members after receiving a three-year suspended sentence for her role in laundering €770,499. Erika Lukacs (37) received a fully suspended three-year sentence for laundering €196,864. Both women entered a bond of €100 and agreed to be of good behaviour for three years or risk serving the three-year sentence.
The court previously heard that Brady and his wife laundered money through transfers that included mortgage payments on a Spanish holiday property, a wedding at Druid’s Glen in Co Wicklow and transfers to other gang members.
A bar tab and room bills for €27,000 from the wedding were paid for in cash, while both Brady and his wife declared no income to the Revenue over the period in question, the court heard.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt gave Declan Brady, known as Mr Nobody, of The Park, Wolstan Abbey, Celbridge, Co Kildare, a sentence of eight years and three months with the final year suspended.
Concealed in attic
He pleaded guilty to concealing cash to the value of €268,940 in the attic of The Dairy, Rathasker Road, Naas, Co Kildare, on January 24th, 2017.
He is already serving 11½ years in prison after he admitted supervising a firearms arsenal including an assault rifle and thousands of rounds of ammunition that had been stashed in a Dublin business park.
The judge said Declan Brady was trusted by the criminal organisation and had provided a “high level of assistance on a number of fronts over a period of time”.
He had enjoyed material benefits from his involvement, the judge said, adding that these are all significant aggravating factors. He had also caused his wife and partner to become involved where their previous good character showed no indication they would otherwise have committed any offences.
Deirdre Brady and Lukacs pleaded guilty to two money laundering offences on April 13th. The women were originally charged with a total of 52 such offences.
Deirdre Brady, of The Bailey, Castlefarm, Naas, pleaded guilty to concealing or disguising the true nature or source of money credited to a Permanent TSB account on various dates between January 1st, 2014 and December 31st, 2014, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property, in the names of Declan Brady and Deirdre Brady, was the proceeds of criminal conduct.
‘Disconnect’
Mr Justice Hunt said the court had a custodial sentence in mind but considered that she had no previous convictions and unlike her husband, was not involved in the activities of a criminal gang. “But it must have been obvious to her there was a disconnect between the legitimate activities of her husband and the sums of money going through the accounts.”
Lukacs, with an address at Lakelands, Naas, admitted to concealing or disguising the true nature or source of money credited to an Allied Irish Bank account on various dates between January 1st, 2012 and December 31st, 2012, within the State, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property, in the name of Erika Lukacs, was the proceeds of criminal conduct.
The judge said Lukacs had no involvement in the criminal gang or criminal activity, but that she “must have suspected a disconnect” between Declan Brady’s “apparent legitimate activities and these sums of money.”
He said the court also considered a custodial sentence for Lukacs, but suspended it after taking into account her guilty plea, previous good record and that she is the carer for a young child.