The Director of Public Prosecutions v Karl Richter

Amount Forfeited

€9,900

Court Date

12 May 2015

Venue

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court

Judge

Martin Nolan

Summary

On 12 May 2015,Dublin Circuit Criminal Court ordered the forfeiture to the Exchequer of cash amounting to €9,900 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 23 July 2014 Revenue Enforcement Officers at Dublin Airport seized and detained the cash from Irish national, Karl Richter, as he was about to board a flight to Alicante, Spain.

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.

Mr Richter stated that he had arrived on a flight from Alicante, Spain the previous evening and that he had stayed in Dublin Airport over night. He said that he lived in Alicante and that he was returning there to purchase a vehicle for his courier business. He claimed that his cousin had given him €6,000 of the cash and that he had dropped it to him at the airport. It was later claimed that the €6,000 cash was a gift from another person. It was proven to the Court that these claims did not stand up to scrutiny.

Mr Richter did not attend, nor was he represented at the Circuit Criminal Court, and the application was unopposed.