A man who is thought to have participated in serious criminal activities has been instructed to justify his source of funds for constructing a house in Northern Ireland to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK. Aidan Grew, along with his spouse, Nuala, presently residing in Co Monaghan, are the builders of the property in Co Armagh, valued approximately £275,000 (€321,400). The Grews will now have to provide an affidavit detailing the origins of the capital used for building the property. This move marks the initial application of an unexplained wealth order since sections of the UK’s Criminal Financial Act were enforced in Northern Ireland in June 2021.
In 2008, Mr Grew admitted to evading taxes on countless cigarettes seized in a joint police-customs operation close to Armagh City in 2005. According to a statement by the agency, this order was attained at the High Court in Belfast last Friday and forms part of an ongoing civil recovery probe. The statement mentioned potential links of Mr Grew, currently residing in the Republic of Ireland, with paramilitaries, cigarette smuggling, and money laundering. The statement did not identify the Grews, but they have been associated with an unexplained wealth order application by the agency in previous Belfast court judgements in June 2022.
The primary goal of this order, as per High Court records, was to gather information, in the form of affidavits and documentation, related to the defendants’ interests in the 36A Grange Blundel Road, Loughgall property in Co Armagh. The order was granted by a judge initially. On 3rd May, 2022, a Criminal Assets Bureau officer from An Garda Síochána delivered a summons to Mr Grew in Co Monaghan. As the summons was not served at their residence but at a Garda station by appointment, the Grews contested that the court should nullify the summons service. However, the judge dismissed their claim.
The Grews contended that, in light of newly established regulations related to unexplained wealth orders, the agency lacked the ability to initiate such proceedings without the explicit approval of the Northern Ireland Assembly. However, this contention was dismissed by a magistrate.
The organisation made it known that, as the defendant’s chief lawyer lodged multiple legal objection in the High Court, including a failed attempt to question the legal status of the NCA in Northern Ireland, this order came into effect.
According to Suzanne Foster, who is in charge of denying assets at the organisation, this represents a crucial benchmark in Northern Ireland’s battle against illicit finances. Foster further expressed that, after overcoming considerable legal obstacles, they are now free to carry on investigating the source of these finances.
Phoenix Law, a legal firm based in Belfast, is handling the Grews’ case. An attempt has been made by The Irish Times to obtain comment from the firm.