Cork property was bought using proceeds of ‘sinister’ romance fraud, court rules

An alleged “key member” of an inter-familial organised crime gang used the proceeds of a “sinister” romance fraud perpetrated on a vulnerable woman to purchase a house in Co Cork, the High Court has ruled.

In a judgment this week, Mr Justice Liam Kennedy found that on the balance of probabilities, Thomas Humphreys used the proceeds of the romance fraud carried out by his brother-in-law Patrick “Pizza Face” O’Brien to purchase the property on Strand Street, Youghal, for €26,620 in July 2015.

Mr Justice Kennedy’s ruling comes after the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) sought an order – under section 3 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 – declaring that the house was purchased using the proceeds of crime. The judge granted the relief sought by the bureau.

Relevant to his ruling, the judge said, was Humphreys’ conviction in absentia by an Australian court of a separate fraud against an elderly woman worth AUD$100,500 (around €58,000).

Humphreys fled the country before he could be tried.

According to evidence submitted to the court by the bureau, Humphreys and various members of his extended family have been involved in organised crime both in Ireland and Australia.

Cab claims the group’s primary modus operandi to be bogus works fraud, in which elderly victims are deceived into paying exorbitant sums for property repairs.

The bureau alleges Humphreys (37), previously with an address at Curraigue, Mallow, Co Cork, but now believed to be living in the UK, to be a “key member” of this crime group.

It was the bureau’s case that Humphreys allegedly benefited from a “sinister” romance scam perpetrated by his wife’s brother O’Brien against Pauline Fitzpatrick between 2012 and 2015.

The bureau claimed that during this time, O’Brien – under a false name – ostensibly entered a romantic relationship with the “vulnerable” Ms Fitzpatrick, conning her out of more than €260,000.

It was the bureau’s case that money procured by way of the “sinister” scam went towards Humphreys’ purchase of the house.

Before he could be tried over the romance fraud, O’Brien fled to Australia, where he was later joined by Humphreys, gardaí allege. The men continued to defraud in Australia, the bureau claimed.

O’Brien (44), of Ballyspillane, Killarney, was eventually jailed for scamming various individuals out of AUD$1.1 million (€640,000), but Humphreys fled Australia before he could be tried.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Kennedy said he was satisfied that at least €5,000 of monies used to purchase the Youghal house was legitimately sourced by virtue of a personal injury settlement payout to Humphreys.

However, beyond this, Humphreys did not establish that the remainder of the cost was funded legitimately, the judge said.

Mr Justice Kennedy noted Humphreys did not deny the allegations of criminality made against him in the bureau’s case, adding that his evidence to the court was “most remarkable for what it does not say”.

“He does not deny or explain his criminal convictions or his involvement in criminality (the controlled drugs trade, frauds in Ireland and Australia, money laundering)... [n]or does he engage with the detailed evidence as to the source of funds used to buy the property,” the judge said.

The judge said he was satisfied that the majority of payments towards the purchase of the property “came from unknown sources or actually represented the proceeds of crime”.