‘They live this lifestyle and show it off to the communities in which they live. So we go in and we take it off them’
For those looking for an early start on their Christmas shopping, 50 of the items up for sale, which have a retail value of more than €500,000, are watches.
CAB’s Chief Bureau Officer Michael Gubbins said the seized items represent the proceeds of crime and the money from the sale will go back to the State.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, he said that the lifestyle of criminals is now “very much in your face”.
Host Claire revealed the treasure trove of seized goods brought into the studio by the CAB chief which included Dolce and Gabbana handbags, Christian Louboutin shoes, Louis Vuitton bags and a Moncler jacket.
These formed part of the haul seized in the last year and contributed to the total value of items worth €6.3 million confiscated by the Bureau, according to its annual report.
Claire referred to how criminals are taking to social media to flaunt their ill-gotten gains and their rich lifestyle, which Gubbins agreed is “the way things are going”.
“When the Bureau was established in 1996 what drew attention to the criminals was their lifestyle,” he said, “and where they lived and what they drove.
“And it hasn’t really changed that much, except obviously with the likes of Instagram. Don’t forget it’s a younger generation of people and they buy into that social media side of things.”
Compared to when the bureau was formed, when criminals were more careful to avoid showing off their wealth, Mr Gubbins said it was much more “ostentatious” now.
“It’s very much in your face. People often ask us why do we take the watches, the jackets, the handbags. There’s an expression, ‘if you want to see it, be it’. People think of that in a positive sense but it’s also in a negative sense if you look at the communities where we do some of our searches.
“It is the likes of this Montcler jacket, and the value on that, retail, is €3,600. We bring these in because it’s the proceeds of crime. Our job is to go after the assets that individuals have acquired through their criminality.
“They have left behind them people who are addicted, people who have chaotic lifestyles, they’ve caused consternation in their community and left people distressed through violence and intimidation.
“They live this lifestyle and show it off to the communities in which they live. So we go in and we take it off them.”
Asked does social media play a part in investigating people who are showing off a particular lifestyle, Mr Gubbins said it helps in identifying some of the material that the criminals have.
“We also get good citizens reports, which are citizens throughout the country who communicate with us anonymously by email and telephone or they write a letter to us and often they will identify something that they’ve seen on social media that’s worn by a criminal.
Other items examined in the studio included two Rolex watches, one of which, a ladies watch still in the box, is worth €6,000.
“As I said, our job is to deny and deprive,” Gubbins added. “We seize that, we complete our file and we go to the High Court and make our case to the judge who will decide if our case is strong enough. Andi it is, those items are forfeited to the State.”
As a result, in the first week of December the Criminal Assets Bureau will auction off 100 items with a retail value of about half a million euro, “of which about 50 are watches”.
As well as the watches, handbags and shoes, Mr Gubbins revealed how they also “take properties off people”.
“More and more we see people are investing in their properties, in the communities that they grew up in. They’re putting very expensive and elaborate extensions on them and actually we will never realise the monies from that, but as I said earlier, we deny and deprive.
“There’s a strong message to the community when CAB do a search, neighbours would walk by and say out of the side of their mouth, ‘well done, about time’.
“We also get thank you letters and communications so we know it has a big impact on the locality. Remember, some of these people are aware of what their neighbour is up to. They are aware of what they’re engaged in and the distress that they’ve caused to their community.”
