The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) has been granted orders in the High Court in London freezing over £1.5 million worth of property in Manchester, which the Agency alleges is funded from money laundering, fuel smuggling and mortgage fraud. This follows the investigation of a case referred to the Agency by the Metropolitan Police Service.
Nine residential properties in Manchester belonging to Francis and Judy Murphy of Ballybinaby, County Louth in the Republic of Ireland and one property belonging to Julian Dowe of Rowan Avenue, Sale, Manchester are the subject of Property Freezing Orders (PFO) obtained from the High Court by ARA.
In its application to the High Court, ARA alleges that Mr & Mrs Murphy built their property portfolio on wealth derived from money laundering and fuel smuggling in Ireland. The nine properties subject to the PFO are mainly in the Trafford and Stretford areas of Manchester.
These include two houses owned by Judy Murphy, worth £70,056 and £188,071 each plus a further seven properties registered to Francis and Judy Murphy's property firm, Sailor Property (UK) Ltd, Britannia Road, Manchester, which changed its name to FTM Properties (UK) Limited in August 2006. These include four flats - one worth £119,200, two worth £109,200 and one worth £111,300. There are a further three houses worth £185,000, £128,000 and £109,100. The equity in these properties is around £381,000.
Colin Farrelly of Dundalk, Republic of Ireland, is also named as a Director of FTM Properties (UK) Limited but ARA has not alleged that he is involved in any criminality or holds property on behalf of Francis and Judy Murphy.
In relation to Julian Dowe, ARA alleges that he obtained his £450,000 home in Sale, Manchester, through mortgage fraud. The property which has equity of around £160,000 is now subject to a PFO.
This action follows on from searches made throughout the Manchester area in October 2005 in which ARA seized more than 350,000 records. Since then the Agency has executed a large scale forensic exercise, carried out further searches and a number of interviews in the Manchester area. Based on the findings of these investigations the Agency is now in a position to apply for PFOs in relation to various properties. Due to the complexity and scale of the Manchester operation the investigation is being handled in stages and is still ongoing.
The properties belonging to Francis and Judy Murphy are occupied by legal tenants who are not connected to the criminality in this case.
