More than €700,000 in social welfare payments were stopped as a result of the intervention of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), its annual report has said, writes Brian Mahon.
The CAB also held its first publicly advertised online auction containing more than 100 items of high-value confiscated luxury goods.
The auction ran for four days and raised a total of €446,000 from the sale of the auctioned assets.
Established in 1996 on foot of the murder of Veronica Guerin, the CAB targets the financial assets of criminals and any income they have through illegal means.
In 2023, savings of €713,091 were made to the State due to the termination and cessation of social welfare payments to individuals who were not entitled to payments, the report said.
Overall, in excess of €8.6m was sent to the Central Fund.
The report said €2.219m of this came as a result of the use of proceeds-of-crime …