Mansion seized Jim Mansfield Jnr was given two suitcases worth €4.5m by Kinahan cartel, court hears

Businessman Jim Mansfield Jnr was given two suitcases containing €4.5m as part of a failed property investment by the Kinahan cartel, the High Court has heard.

However, evidence was today given that the deal fell through when the businessman's fortune deteriorated, and the international crime gang were given a luxury mansion and cash payments instead.

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) today secured an order to seize the west Dublin mansion, which it said was in the control of the Kinahan organised crime gang, and remit it to the exchequer.

The High Court granted CAB the orders relating to the property, valued in excess of €1m, as well as cash sums totalling €50,000.

Evidence was given that the house at 10 Coldwater Lakes, Saggart, Dublin, was of historical interest of the Mansfield family but that it was controlled by the Kinahan cartel.

Outlining the background of the case Shelley Horan BL, for the Bureau, said that it is their belief that the Kinahan gang made a substantial investment through various properties Jim Mansfield Jnr was developing.

She said that detailed statements were taken of interactions between the respondents in the case; Daniel Kinahan, Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh, and Mansfield Jnr.

Kavanagh, she said, was an "international drug trafficker and key in the Kinahan organised crime group".

Evidence was given that in 2009 Jim Mansfield Jnr was given two suitcases, containing a total of €4.5m, as part of the investments by the Kinahan cartel.

However, the Mansfield fortune "deteriorated" following the financial crash before going into receivership and those relationships "soured".

Ms Horan said that Kinahan and Kavanagh were given the property and cash payments instead.

One cash sum of €5,000 was found in an envelope marked 'KAVS' in the basement of Tassagart House in Saggart where Jim Mansfield Jnr resided.

The barrister also said that 10 Coldwater Lakes was occupied and in the control of Daniel Kinahan from 2014 due to the nature of items discovered at the property.

Efforts to serve orders on Kinahan have not yet been successful and the court heard this may need to be done via social media.

She made an application to serve Thomas Kavanagh at HMP prison in Norwich where he is serving a 21-year jail term for drug trafficking.

Mansfield Jnr, the court heard, is currently serving a jail term in the Midlands prison for attempting to pervert the course of justice relating to the false imprisonment of his former security guard.

The Mansfield family were legally represented today with the court hearing they consented not to contest the matter with the CAB, with their barrister saying they wish the matter be concluded swiftly.

Mr Justice Michael MacGrath, sitting in Croke Park, granted the CAB orders to remit the property and cash sums to the exchequer.