Gerard Hutch, the Dublin man known as the Monk, has agreed to pay the Criminal Assets Bureau over £2 million in outstanding tax. RTÉ News has learned that the agreement was reached between Hutch and the Bureau, after CAB went to court to seek a further £1.5 million on top of the £2 million Hutch already owes. The 36-year-old Dublin man has already paid a £0.5 million as a down payment. He is to pay over another £0.5 million after selling properties in Dublin, and the final £1 million at a later date.
In spite of a two year fight against the Criminal Assets Bureau that he took all the way to the Supreme Court, Gerard Hutch, the Dublin man known as the Monk, lost his battle to stop the Bureau taking £2 million off him in unpaid tax. Mr Hutch owns properties in Buckingham Street in Dublin City centre. They are now up for sale, and as part of the deal, he will hand over the money he makes from them to the Criminal Assets Bureau.
The Bureau served the tax bill on Hutch last year. The figure consists of an assessment of over £780,000 for income tax for nine years up to 1999. The outstanding interest, at a rate of two per cent per month, makes up the other £1.2 million. The former chief of the bureau, Fachtna Murphy, and the man who replaced him, Felix McKenna, have relentlessly pursued Mr Hutch for the tax bill. Mr McKenna told the high Court that Gardaí suspect Hutch of carrying out armed robberies and hiding and disguising money in properties under his control, including placing properties in the names of members of his family.
CAB have taken £3 million in criminal assets since 1996, but £2 million from Gerard Hutch is the largest single settlement from any individual.
