ARA freezes assets in biggest case seen in NI

Property worth £8.2 million has been frozen by the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) in the biggest case of its kind in Northern Ireland.

Around 11 bank accounts, 36 houses and several plots of land were seized after Belfast’s High Court was granted an interim receiving order on the assets of Joseph and Francis McGleenan.

The court heard Francis McGleenan owns a property portfolio estimated to be worth in excess of £650,000 gross, including residential houses in Keady, County Armagh and Belfast.

Damien McGleenan, the brother of the men, was investigated by the ARA on suspicion of illegal fuel smuggling in January last year.

Around £400,000 worth of his assets were frozen from the fuel dealer from Keady.

The ARA alleged he had received the properties from fuel smuggling, evasion of excise duty and VAT.

All three men have strongly challenged the action.

ARA Deputy Director Director Alan McQuillan said: “This is one of the most valuable portfolios of assets frozen to date in Northern Ireland.

“We started with an investigation into one individual and a relatively modest amount of assets, but the receiver soon identified a huge range of properties held by his brothers which have now also been frozen.”

He continued: “In getting this order today we had to be able to show to the High Court that we had a good arguable case that these assets were also the proceeds of crime.”

(JM/SP)