Gangland figure Martin Foley brings High Court bid to block CAB home seizure

Martin 'The Viper' Foley has taken his first step in the High Court to challenge the Criminal Assets Bureau's move to seize his Dublin home over a €916,000 tax debt.

Foley seeks stay as CAB moves to repossess Kimmage house over unpaid taxes

Martin "The Viper" Foley, a 75-year-old veteran of Dublin's gangland, appeared before the High Court on Tuesday in an attempt to block the Criminal Assets Bureau from seizing and selling his home at Cashel Avenue, Kimmage, TheJournal.ie reports.

Mr Justice David Nolan refused to grant Foley an ex parte stay against CAB's existing court authority to execute a repossession order on the property, which is scheduled to take effect within a fortnight. Instead, the judge granted Foley leave to serve short notice on CAB of his intention to bring stay proceedings before the court next Tuesday — a step that will allow the bureau's legal team to be present when the application is heard.

Foley represented himself before Judge Nolan. He told the court that he and his wife would be left homeless if they were put out of the property on 16 September. "My wife would be thrown out of the house," he pleaded.

Judge Nolan noted that the Circuit Court had made a possession order against Foley in 2024 and that he had already been granted an 18-month stay on execution of the order to allow him to find alternative accommodation. Foley argued that new accounting information had since come to light and said he wished to apply for a further stay to allow time to appeal the existing court orders.

A decade-long dispute over €916,000 in unpaid taxes

CAB moved to seize the property after Foley failed to pay an outstanding tax bill of almost €1 million. The bureau assessed him as owing more than €916,000 in unpaid taxes up to the year 2000. The case has been running for more than ten years, with judgment recorded against the house, which is registered in the names of Foley and his deceased wife, Pauline.

His current wife, Sonya, is contesting the sale on the grounds that she owns at least half the property and should not be made homeless. She told the court there was "no reality" to her being able to purchase another home, and that eviction would render both her and her daughter homeless.

Foley claimed he works two days a week as a van driver and struggles to get by on his pension. He said his wife is on disability and that the couple have no additional assets. The couple also told the court they are married and have a child together born in 2015, though earlier proceedings had noted that no marriage or birth certificate had been produced.

Foley's proposed settlement terms

Foley put forward several proposals to resolve the situation. He said he was willing to enter a Mortgage to Rent Scheme under which CAB would sell the house but he and his family would remain in it while making monthly payments. He also offered to hand over the proceeds of two defamation actions he is currently pursuing against the BBC and Penguin Books.

Additionally, Foley claimed he had been led to believe that CAB and the Revenue Commissioners had agreed not to pursue him for the outstanding tax bill in exchange for a deal. He alleged he had been told that if he did not pursue Charles Bowden — a former member of John Gilligan's drugs gang now in the witness protection programme — for €120,000, CAB would not pursue him for the tax debt. He said that had he received that €120,000, it would have gone "a long way" toward repaying the original €178,000 debt, together with additional contributions.

Foley also said he paid over €36,000 to the Revenue Commissioners 23 years ago and argued that "a form of set off" should be permitted.

Bowden was responsible for the weapons used by Gilligan's gang and gave evidence against Gilligan and Brian Meehan in the Special Criminal Court. He has also admitted that he loaded the gun used to shoot Foley when Foley was seriously injured outside his home. Meehan is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin.

Foley also maintained that he inherited the house from his mother and that it was not the proceeds of crime — though the Circuit Civil Court was told that point is not at issue, as the case relates solely to unpaid taxes.

CAB disputes the Foleys' account

Barrister for CAB, Shaula Connaughton Deeny, pushed back on the Foleys' claims in court. She said no explanation had been offered as to why Sonya Foley cannot work. "She says she's on disability, we've no evidence of that, their evidence is vague and bare at best," Connaughton Deeny told the court.

She added that CAB had received no evidence of bank accounts or other assets, or how the family was surviving without any income. "There is nothing vouching anything they say before the court," she said.

Background

Foley has more than 60 previous convictions, including for assault, robbery and possession of weapons. He was a member of the criminal gang led by Martin Cahill, known as the General, and has survived several attempts on his life.

His barrister Keith Farry, who represented Foley in the Circuit Civil Court, said his client had been led to believe the tax debt would not be pursued and that, after all these years, doing so was "unfair and disproportionate." Farry noted that Foley had remarried and that the seizure of the property would have a detrimental effect on his wife and child.

The matter returns to the High Court next Tuesday.

Source: TheJournal.ie