Dublin couple whose assets were frozen by CAB refused legal aid

In November 2016, the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) secured freezing orders against Jason Boyle and his parents Laurence and Rosaleen Boyle in respect of a three-bedroom house in Finglas worth approximately €250,000, an apartment in Bulgaria, and the cash.

The cash was found in plastic wrapping during a search by gardaí of the couple’s home.

The court heard that the money had been buried in the garden of another property that had been previously owned by the couple before they moved it to their current home.

The Boyles all deny CAB’s claim that the properties and cash are the proceeds of crime.

In an application to the High Court, Mr and Mrs Boyle sought admission to the ad hoc legal aid scheme, claiming that they cannot afford to retain lawyers to contest the action.

In a sworn statement to the court, Mr Boyle, 58, said that the seized cash is his property and represents savings from his business over a ten-year period.

He said that he and his wife jointly own the properties in Finglas, where the couple’s son Jason resides, and the apartment in Bulgaria.

Mr Boyle claimed that the money was concealed in the manner due to his mistrust of banks and because he did not want one of his sons, Laurence Jnr, who he said has a drug problem, to get it.

He said he had a wheelie bin cleaning business which he wound down in 2010, and has since been working as a casual trade for two days a week, earns €150 a week. He said the apartment was acquired from an associate in exchange for €7,000 plus a jeep.

Mr Boyle also said that he owes Revenue some €6,000 and has a credit union debt of €3,000.

Mrs Boyle, 56, said in her sworn statement that she is not working.

Opposing the application, Michael Binchy BL, representing CAB, told the court that “no proper detailed explanation of how the funds were generated had been given to the court” and that the couple’s explanation “doesn’t stack up”. He pointed out that Mr Boyle claimed ownership of €72,500 but did not see it fit to put any of that to the Revenue debt.

In her ruling, Ms Justice Carmel Stewart dismissed the couple’s application.

She said there were “a lot of anomalies and a lack of explanations” in regards to the assets and was not satisfied to admit the couple to the legal aid scheme.

The matter was adjourned to a date in November.

Aodhan O Faolain, Ireland International News Agency Ltd.