The Criminal Assets Bureau has said there was no question of any political influence or motivation during its investigation into the finances of Thomas 'Slab' Murphy and insisted that there is never a political consideration in any of its cases.
The head of the Bureau welcomed the conviction and said the case was perhaps the best example in recent years of the power of CAB and its multi-agency approach.
Detective Chief Superintendent Eugene Corcoran also said the delay of 11 years between the commencement of the investigation and today's sentence was beyond the control of the CAB and the prosecution.
CAB has already taken over €1.1m from Murphy but it has not yet finalised matters with him and is pursuing him for another €5.5m.
This investigation began over a decade ago when the Criminal Assets Bureau began looking at the finances of the IRA and those associated with it.
Murphy was in charge of the IRA in the North.
He did not pay any tax or claim social welfare; he had no obvious source of income but he still managed to live in a nice house on the border and never seemed to want for anything or worry about money.
CAB searched his home and lands at Ballybinaby in Co Louth on 9 March 2006.
Evidence including computers, ledgers, invoices and documents were seized, sorted - and stored in boxes - before being stacked up against a wall in the offices of the CAB.
Amongst the damning proof beyond all reasonable doubt that Murphy was making money he was not declaring, from farming and dealing in cattle were;
1. The coded diary - the cover of which was marked gas oil - designed to conceal the information within. It contained lists of cattle sales at marts all over the country and the prices achieved at places like Roscommon, Mohill, Elphin, Drumshambo. The letter 'T' was for Tom
2. The uncashed cheques - €579,000 - drawn on various financial institutions. The Criminal Assets Bureau seized them, cashed them and banked the money for the State.
3. A large amount of cash - in euro, sterling and old Irish pounds. (€256,235 and Stg£191,185 and IR£24,000.) The money was stored in black refuse bags, hidden among hay bales in the cattle shed, which although in the Republic, faced out on to a road in Northern Ireland. All this too was seized for the State.
But why was 'Slab' Murphy specifically identified for investigation by the Criminal Assets Bureau?
He is to his supporters a great friend of the peace process and they suspect he had been targeted in a criminal inquiry that was not only politically motivated but was also driven by political influence and interference.
Not so says CAB.
Det Chief Supt Corcoran said there is no foundation for allegations that its investigation was politically motivated or that there was political influence or interference
He said there is never any political consideration in what cases the CAB pursues and there was no question of the case of Murphy having been treated any differently than any other case.
He said this investigation is perhaps the best example in years of the power of the Criminal Assets Bureau and its multi-agency, multi-disciplinary approach involving as it did in this case the Garda, the Revenue Commissioners, Forensic Accountants and the Department of Social Protection.
He also highlighted the co-operation received from the PSNI and HM Revenue and Customs who were involved in the cross border dimension.
Det Chief Supt Corcoran said the delay of 11 years from the start of the investigation in 2005 to its conclusion today was undesirable but pointed out that High Court and Supreme Court challenges contributed to the delay which was beyond the control of CAB and the prosecution.
He said delays can often lead to witnesses and evidence being lost but in this case the evidence stood the test of time.
He also commended the officials working on the case, many of whom had been working on it from the start.
The Criminal Assets Bureau has already taken €1,107,693 from 'Slab' Murphy - cash and cheques - it found on the day it raided his home, which has already been seized by the State.
But the Bureau is still not finished; it says there's a lot more tax to be collected; the €189,964 he owes for the nine years covered by this criminal case, as well as another CAB tax assessment for over €5,344,157.24.
