CAB probes €140,000 find in Tom McFeely house

Idbatterim

THE Criminal Assets Bureau has been called in to investigate the discovery of a six-figure haul of cash found hidden under a bath in the former home of bankrupt developer Tom McFeely.

A plumber involved in renovation work on the recently sold house in Ailesbury Road in south Dublin discovered €140,000 in €50 notes as he was checking under the bath yesterday.

He contacted NAMA, whose officials alerted the bureau

while local gardai were notified. Officers took possession of the cash and lodged it in an account in the Camden Street branch of AIB as a temporary measure.

Last night, an investigation led by CAB was under way with the aim of establishing the source of the money and confirming the circumstances in which it was found.

Officers initially examined the cash to determine that it was not counterfeit and then launched inquiries to find out who had hidden it in the bathroom.

The investigation will determine who is the legitimate owner of the money.

If it is owned by Mr McFeely , a former Provisional IRA hunger striker, it will be handed over to the official assignee, appointed by the High Court, to oversee the disposal of the assets of the bust developer.

If CAB is worried about the source of the cash, officers could go to the High Court to seek a freezing order under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

After Mr McFeely was declared bankrupt, the property, Coolbawn, in one of Dublin's most exclusive neighbourhoods, was taken over by NAMA.

At one time it was valued at €15m, but was placed on the market by NAMA at €3m.

The house was subsequently bought by Hilary Hynes, the wife of public relations guru and former Sunday Times Irish editor Rory Godson, who has been based in London since 2000.

A builder had been asked by the new owner to carry out renovations on the house, and during work on the bathroom at lunchtime the money was discovered.

Mr Mc-Feely, who says his bank debts exceed €200m, has accused NAMA in the past of "showboating" his eviction from his home.

Less than a year ago, he told a High Court hearing that he had only €1,160 left in the bank and denied he had any hidden assets. He insisted that he had not received a €2.4m payment in relation to the Athena Court apartment complex in London and had not collected €148,000 in rent from the same development.

SUICIDE

He also denied owning property in the North, Co Offaly, Antigua or Portugal.

Mr McFeely has been in the headlines because of the Priory Hall apartments debacle. His reputation as a builder was ruined when Priory Hall was declared a firetrap and residents were forced to evacuate.

Last month a Priory Hall resident, mother-of-two Stephanie Meehan, revealed that the stress of dealing with the problems arising from the complex had driven her partner, Fiachra Daly, to suicide.

She said the pressure eventually took its toll on him, and he took his life on July 15 at the age of 37.

very honest plumber there in my opinion, not saying it would have been the best ida to take it if it was still McFeely's house, but it isnt...

Wacker The Attacker

What do CAB do with money like this?

Wacker The Attacker

Its on Marian Finucane now

UrbanSea

Very honest plumber, I wouldn't have said a word

JONJO THE MISER

What kind of a fool/idiot is that plumber, he should of kept his mouth shut and kept the money.

wazky

UrbanSea wrote: »

Very honest plumber, I wouldn't have said a word

Maybe he kept the the other 900k as a finders reward?

It's good to see that there are honest people still out there.

UrbanSea

wazky wrote: »

Maybe he kept the the other 900k as a finders reward?

Haha maybe

Bigus

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

What kind of a fool/idiot is that plumber, he should of kept his mouth shut and kept the money.

Also just before he discovered the money, while he was under the bath,Hilary Hynes, the wife of public relations guru and former Sunday Times Irish editor Rory Godson, came in and asked him if he would like his TOOL polished , but he declined and said no thank you ,as it was shiny enough already.

AnonoBoy

Wacker The Attacker wrote: »

What do CAB do with money like this?

Epic toga parties I heard.

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

What kind of a fool/idiot is that plumber, he should of kept his mouth shut and kept the money.

Given McFeely's "connections" he might have thought it wiser to hand the cash over to the authorities.

Banjo String

That plumber needs a kick in the nuts tbh.

BattleCorp

I'd say the money was forgotten about. If you were being evicted, surely you'd get the money and hide it in a new location.

Goes to show how much money was swishing around back in the good days when you could leave €140,000 hidden under the bath and forget you had it.

deandean

Funny, with mcFeely's past i would've thought the 140k would be in N.I. Sterling notes...

YbFocus

Maybe he found €150,000

I hope the plumber gets a decent reward . ten Gs would be a nice finders fee

19543261

What were the chances of being caught if he had taken it? (genuine question)

UrbanSea

19543261 wrote: »

What were the chances of being caught if he had taken it? (genuine question)

If it had been forgotten about and no one else knew it was there then **** all

YbFocus

Yeah it could never have been traced back to him really. New owners didn't know it was there, old owners couldn't open their mouth/wouldn't know who done the work.

Bigus

19543261 wrote: »

What were the chances of being caught if he had taken it? (genuine question)

In fairness there was probably a number of witnesses, if there wasn't , he was a silly man he'll get feck all thanks, and no reward.

paddy147

Wacker The Attacker wrote: »

What do CAB do with money like this?

Use it to help out the Priory Hall residents who got completely shafted??


But they wont ever do that.:(

19543261

YbFocus wrote: »

Yeah it could never have been traced back to him really. New owners didn't know it was there, old owners couldn't open their mouth/wouldn't know who done the work.

This was my train of thought, yeah. I was trying to think of a reason for not taking it if it was myself. Really a proper investigation may have found him out, but the likelihood of one even beginning are so slim.

I'd wager there's a plumbers van half full of 50's somewhere right now...

YbFocus

The only person in the country that knows if he has is Tom himself and the plumber obviously

Happyman42

19543261 wrote: »

I'd wager there's a plumbers van half full of 50's somewhere right now...

It would have been safer to take it all, nobody would know who took it then (including McFeely) that way ^ McFeely would have no doubt who took it. Stupid plumber if he did that.

Mr McBoatface

Assuming I knew who house it was I'm not sure I'd have done the same as the plumber, but I wouldn't have kept that money either. I'd like to think i'd have given it to Stephanie Meehan and her kids.

19 years ago I was coming home from a FAS course I was doing in Cookstown in Tallaght, I found 475 pounds in an envelope with a payslip, it was huge money too me. The following morning I walked to company on the payslip header, where I asked for the man who's money it was. He came out and I handed him the money, he was really grateful, he gave me 50 pounds, his boss who was in reception at the time was so impressed he gave me a job. Worked there for 5 years, completed a trade cert with them and put myself onto a very successful career path, worth so much more than the 475 pounds I found.

Hopefully something good comes the way of the plumber.

Son Of A Vidic

UrbanSea wrote: »

Very honest plumber, I wouldn't have said a word

+ 140,000.

jos28

Maybe that was McFeely's attempt at money laundering ! Seriously though, I agree with other posters, the cash should be given to the Priory Hall residents. It's McFeely's fault that the homes they purchased are uninhabitable.

mad m

CAB have lodged the money into an Aib account for time being . They will determine where the dosh came from, illegally or legally. But c'mon who hides 140k under a bath....

Happyman42

Like any found money, if it can't be established who it belongs to, would plumber not be entitled to claim it after a year and a day?

suicide_circus

mad m wrote: »

But c'mon who hides 140k under a bath....

Bertie?

Vojera

If the new owners bought the house as is, does it not belong to them? Or is it different with money or goods with (potentially) shady origins?

JustAddWater

Happyman42 wrote: »

Like any found money, if it can't be established who it belongs to, would plumber not be entitled to claim it after a year and a day?

Does this apply to money found in a private place?

I genuinely don't know but I thought it would only apply to things found in public domain

Happyman42

JustAddWater wrote: »

Does this apply to money found in a private place?

I genuinely don't know but I thought it would only apply to things found in public domain

Don't know either, but technically, unless McFeely claims it then it's ownerless. Can it just be assumed it's his in a legal way? The new owners might have claim to it too. (I know of a painting found under floorboards in a house which the new owners legally claimed was theirs and they were able to hold on to it)
Will be interesting to see what happens.

Skill Magill

The plumber didn't know whos cash it was, He knew it wasn't his and had no right to take it. He made the correct decision, end of.

Jumboman

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

What kind of a fool/idiot is that plumber, he should of kept his mouth shut and kept the money.

Not a good idea to take the money if you have to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder.

Happyman42

Jumboman wrote: »

Not a good idea to take the money if you have to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder.

Maybe the plumbers had seen this little gem?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120324/

Idbatterim

the absolute muppet the more I think about it, who else would have been to witness him finding it? the owners etc? unlikely, and if he had one other person with him who saw it, split it! Its €2800 hundred notes, youd get it out easily enough in one go... Even take it and give it to charity if you dont want a guilty conscience! bloody hell we have this on the one extreme and then the peru two risking everything for some pocket change amount, it beggars belief!

foggy_lad

Wacker The Attacker wrote: »

What do CAB do with money like this?

Send it to Balbriggan for safe-keeping.

Elbaston

Jumboman wrote: »

Not a good idea to take the money if you have to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder.

V. True.
Plumber may have been taking 140,000 from some dealer for all he knew.
Never a good idea to steal from someone who can afford to have 140,000 in cash hidden under the bath.
Must be a sickener though, tempting too.

chughes

The plumber did the right think handing up the money. There's a lot of kneeling done by plumbers and its handy to have both knees working and in the correct place.

paddy147

Whats to say that if it was more than 140k...that someone from CAB or another branch of the gardai didnt think..."I'll have some of that thankyou very much".

And then state that it was 140k that was hidden under the bath.



Can you imagine them stuffing the notes down their jocks and walking out looking about 6 inches thicker around their waistline???:pac:

paddy147

chughes wrote: »

The plumber did the right think handing up the money. There's a lot of kneeling done by plumbers and its handy to have both knees working and in the correct place.

Remember the innocent young plumber lad who was killed becasue he was in the wrong place at the wrong time?


http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0621/302646-campbella/

MadsL

Vojera wrote: »

If the new owners bought the house as is, does it not belong to them? Or is it different with money or goods with (potentially) shady origins?

The law is clear on it, if it is found in a safe for which you do not have the key and you have posted a thread with pictures of your progress on the internet, it is yours.

gramar

"He contacted NAMA, whose officials alerted the bureau"

Why on earth did the plumber contact NAMA? Surely the logical thing to do if you're going to the honest would be to contact the Guards. Or maybe he was afraid they would nick it?

AlekSmart

Skill Magill wrote: »

The plumber didn't know whos cash it was, He knew it wasn't his and had no right to take it. He made the correct decision, end of.

Gramar : "He contacted NAMA, whose officials alerted the bureau"

Why on earth did the plumber contact NAMA? Surely the logical thing to do if you're going to the honest would be to contact the Guards. Or maybe he was afraid they would nick it?

Maybe because NAMA was his customer in this case ?

I wonder was he an Irish plumber ?

.jacksparrow.

But sure it was the plumbers fault the money is now gone, might aswell have kept it.

everlast75

McFeeley would have had to declare all asserts/cash in his proceedings.

I hope they f**k him behind bars for lying on oath!

January

Maybe the plumber thought it was the house owners (it says the house is owned by a woman now, not NAMA) and she decided to contact NAMA who then alerted the CAB?

Sir Humphrey Appleby

everlast75 wrote: »

McFeeley would have had to declare all asserts/cash in his proceedings.

I hope they f**k him behind bars for lying on oath!

Unfortunately, lying on oath means nothing to that scumbag.
Since he was so eager to British (when it suited him) not so long ago it is just a pity we cant deport his sorry ass after we have jailed him for contempt of court!

michael999999

everlast75 wrote: »

McFeeley would have had to declare all asserts/cash in his proceedings.

I hope they f**k him behind bars for lying on oath!

Unfortunately the b0!£x will just say he didnt lie about it. He just forgot it was there!

Id say bertie ahern and the rest of he's fianna fail caball would need a swimming pool to hide there money under!

fryup

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

What kind of a fool/idiot is that plumber, he should of kept his mouth shut and kept the money.

and what, be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life....do you think the owners of the money wouldn't have found out who was doing maintenance on that apartment,

nah, i think for his own safety and wellbeing he did the right thing

.jacksparrow.

fryup wrote: »

and what, be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life....do you think the owners of the money wouldn't have found out who was doing maintenance on that apartment,

nah, i think for his own safety and wellbeing he did the right thing

But sure now they know he found the money and gave it to the gards, so now the money is gone, will the owners not be as angry as if he kept it?

By your logic if he was scared of looking over his shoulders, he should have just left it there and said nothing.