The luxury Dublin home of one of the leaders of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group has been sold for more than €930,000, some €380,000 above the asking price.
The Criminal Assets Bureau seized the four-bedroom, three-bathroom detached house on a corner site in a private gated complex at Coldwater Lakes in Saggart after it was found to be the proceeds of crime.
Forty people watched the auction online but two bidders, numbers one and three, were the main interested parties bidding against one another.
Each bidder had one minute to make an offer and often waited until just two seconds were left before making a new offer.
The house went on sale for €550,000 at midday and the price increased in amounts ranging from €1,000 to €9,000 over the next two hours.
The bidding continued after the set closing time of 1pm as bids kept coming in.
The house finally sold for €931,000, fifty minutes after the auction was supposed to close.
Estate agent Gibson’s Auctions said the property measures 3,410 square feet of living space across two floors with a grand staircase entrance of rich wood banisters and grey carpeting.
The ground floor spans 1,490 square feet and includes a spacious front room with a bay window, a dining/living room featuring a classic fireplace with a white mantel and a guest toilet.
The kitchen has a curved island with black countertops and the house also has a converted garage with mirrored walls and a sprung floor which the auctioneer said, “is ideal for use as a home gym, dance studio, or recreational space”.
The open-plan design integrates the kitchen with a dining area and living area.
The kitchen leads through to the utility room with an additional toilet.
Upstairs, the first floor includes four very large bedrooms with two ensuites.
The main bathroom is also on the first floor.
The property also includes a spacious garage which has been converted, with mirrored walls and a sprung floor, it is ideal for use as a home gym, dance studio or recreational space.
It is the first property that has been seized from Daniel Kinahan after it was found to be the proceeds of drug-trafficking.
Kinahan did not contest the case.
CAB officers wrote to the leader of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group at two separate business and residential addresses in Dubai but he did not respond.
The High Court was told that Kinahan and Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh gave the businessman Jim Mansfield Junior two suitcases containing €4.5 million, which was to be invested in property for the Kinahan Organised Crime Group.
That deal, however, collapsed when Mansfield’s finances suffered during the economic downturn, but CAB said Mansfield Jnr later reached a deal with the cartel to repay them by giving them the house at Coldwater Lakes in Saggart.
He owned it since 2014.
The house was searched by gardaí on 29 January 2015 and evidence was discovered that Kinahan had lived in it.
A passport in his name and an Aer Lingus baggage sticker also in his name were found.
Gardaí also discovered a Ryanair boarding pass in the name of Christopher Kinahan, Daniel’s younger brother, on an iPad in the house and documentation belonging to James Quinn, who has 70 recorded convictions in Ireland and who is serving a 22-year sentence in Spain for the murder of Gary Hutch.
Former international boxer Matthew Macklin was in the house at the time of the search and paraphernalia connected to the now defunct boxing management company MGM was found.
The court heard that Mr Macklin was courteous but declined to answer any questions.
