Garda Credit Union awash with dirty money

national | crime and justice | news report Monday May 22, 2006 22:25 by Liam Mullen - Freelance Journalist

Revenue sources have indicated that serious irregularities have come to light with member’s accounts showing irregular balances, that have mostly been lodged in Gardaí’s spouses and their children’s accounts. It is believed that a number of Gardaí have been privately reprimanded but the matter remains very hush-hush.

Revenue sources have indicated that serious irregularities have come to light with member’s accounts showing irregular balances, that have mostly been lodged in Gardaí’s spouses and their children’s accounts. It is believed that a number of Gardaí have been privately reprimanded but the matter remains very hush-hush.
At a time when Justice Minister Michael McDowell has appointed Kathleen O’Toole to oversee changes within the Garda Síochána, and at a time when the force itself is under the spotlight with the Morris Tribunal, and recent high profile cases like Abbeylara, the news that dirty money has been lodged into member’s accounts will hardly engender public confidence in a force already rocked by a number of high profile disasters of late. The force has also come in for much criticism from government circles over its refusal to consider a reserve force.
One of the most successful credit unions in the country, the main Garda credit union can boast upwards of twenty eight thousand members, and has assets in excess of 353 million euros. It is not known how much dirty money was involved but the fact that a top-secret revenue probe was launched by the internal revenue investigation division suggests that millions of euro could be involved.