The High Court has appointed provisional liquidators to a charity at the centre of a garda investigation into money laundering.
The liquidators were appointed following an application by the Charities Regulator as part of a petition to wind up the charity, Liberties Recycling and Development Company limited.
In a statement, the regulator said the appointment of a liquidator places executive control of the charity into independent hands immediately, to enable transitional arrangements to be put in place to support the charity’s vulnerable service users and employees, and to secure the assets of the charity and their transfer, if possible, to another charity with a similar charitable purpose.
The regulator said it sought the order following engagement with the trustees when a garda money laundering investigation seized around €300,000 in assets.
The investigation has been ongoing for some time.
Gardaí from the money laundering unit carried out a series of searches in Dublin and in the south and east of the country last week.
One of the cars that was seized as part of the investigation (Image: An Garda Síochána)
They seized two BMW X5 cars worth around a quarter of a million euro along with Louis Vuitton bags, Rolex watches and jewellery with an estimated value of €40,000.
RTÉ’s Crime Correspondent Paul Reynolds reports on today’s developments
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Sinn Féin has confirmed that its TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh is the chair of Liberty Recycling and said it supports the investigations by gardaí and the Charities Regulator.
A Sinn Féin spokesperson said: “Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh has reiterated his support for the ongoing Garda investigation, taking place in conjunction with the office of the Charities Regulator, into a charity organisation of which he is a board member and chair.
“Deputy Ó Snodaigh has remained in regular engagement with the office of the Charities Regulator over the past week since confirmation of the investigation emerged, and he remains available to assist An Garda Síochána with their inquiries.
“Following today’s decision by the High Court, the full executive control of the charity now rests entirely with the provisional liquidators, whom Deputy Ó Snodaigh met with earlier today.
“Deputy Ó Snodaigh said that support for the charity’s vulnerable service users, CE workers and employees must now be prioritised by the liquidators, the Charity Regulator and the Department of Social Protection. He said that all possible measures must be exhausted to secure jobs or alternative CE places for all affected workers.
“Deputy Ó Snodaigh further stated that it his intention to call an emergency board meeting of the associated company, Liberty Global Exports Company Limited, with the intention of looking at all options, including the winding-up of the company.
“Deputy Ó Snodaigh held discussions today with the liquidator and with Department of Social Protection officials to try to ensure that service users and employees are supported during the liquidator’s consultative period, and he confirmed that the liquidators had agreed to his request to facilitate a series of meetings with the charity’s staff and stakeholders tomorrow.”
The regulator said that while there is no evidence that the charity trustees are involved in the activities under investigation by the GNECB, the Charities Regulator formed the view, from the trustees’ engagement with the regulator and their response to situation, that there was little or no effective management or oversight of the charity’s activities.
The charity has shops in several counties around the country and is involved in recycling clothes and other goods.
Its website describes how it operates a clothes recycling “initiative to provide employment and training to local people affected by drugs”.
The Charities Regulator said that Shane McCarthy and Cormac O’Connor of KPMG have been appointed as joint provisional liquidators of the charity and that there will be a High Court hearing on the winding up application in November.