The Director of Public Prosecutions v Rafhe John and Eric Owusu Afriyie

Amount Forfeited

€106,700

Court Date

4 July 2012

The Director of Public Prosecutions v Rafhe John and Eric Owusu Afriyie

Venue

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court

Judge

Patricia Ryan

Summary

On the 4 July 2012 Dublin Circuit Criminal Court ordered the forfeiture to the Exchequer of cash amounting to €106,700 pursuant to Section 39, Criminal Justice Act 1994, as amended by Section 21, Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act 2005, on the grounds that it was proven on the balance of probabilities to represent the proceeds of crime, or was intended for use in criminal conduct. On 17 October 2008 Revenue Enforcement Officers at Dublin Airport seized and detained the cash from a Dutch citizen, Rafhe John, as it was about to be exported to Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Following an investigation by Revenue’s Investigations and Prosecutions Division, a file on the matter was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions who ordered the forfeiture proceedings.

At the time of the detection of the cash Rafhe John claimed to have received the cash in a car at the back of Dublin airport, from a man who he had not previously met, and that he intended to purchase construction vehicles in Amsterdam with it. It was subsequently claimed that the cash was being carried by Mr John on behalf of Eric Owusu Afriyie, who claimed that the cash was to be used to purchase cars in Europe for export to Ghana.

The application at the Circuit Criminal Court was contested by Counsel for Eric Afriyie. Neither explanation was accepted as legitimate by the Court, and the cash was forfeited to the exchequer accordingly.