Local man Leonard Hardy, who is currently in custody in Spain for allegedly being involved in money laundering, has reached settlement here for almost €500,000 with the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).
The convicted IRA member and his wife, Donna Maguire, were both arrested by the Spanish authorities in the Canaries last week, following an investigation into the laundering of millions of euro netted from alleged trafficking in counterfeit cigarettes.
Maguire has since been released but Hardy remained in custody as of last night, according to a report in today’s Irish Independent.
The two were part of a Provisional IRA unit that had been active on mainland Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s and were subsequently convicted of terrorist offences. They currently live in Mountpleasant, just outside Dundalk.
Hardy was on a bureau “hit” list of 240 figures, who include their prime targets for the coming year.
Last July, Hardy was fined €10,000 in Dublin Circuit Court for tax irregularities after the bureau sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
He was also served with a tax bill for more than €500,000 by the bureau. But he has since reached a settlement for slightly less than that figure and has started paying off his tax debt.
