He worked as a plasterer and was a volunteer who helped feed the homeless. However, he was also a senior figure in a transnational organised crime group.
Today, the Criminal Assets Bureau was granted an order in the High Court to seize Jason Reed's assets, along with the assets of another couple, Thomas Rooney and Catherine Dawson.
CAB had also sought the orders against Reed's wife, Charlotte Reed.
The bureau had claimed that she had benefitted from her husband's criminal activities but was not involved in criminal activity.
Jason Reed was not previously known to the gardaí until he was targeted by officers investigating the movement of the Kinahan organised crime group's drug money.
Reed used a specially-modified Volkswagen Passat to conceal contraband.
A hidden compartment was secretly built into it behind the back seats, which could only be accessed through a fob.
It enabled him to safely move the money around.
He was caught in a car park in Drogheda in May 2020 with over €350,000 in cash just after he had handed over a bag of cash to Catherine Dawson.
Dawson was a useful cover for the gang. A healthcare worker, she used the company car to move over €600,000 in criminal cash.
She could do so during the pandemic without being stopped at garda checkpoints, because her job allowed her to travel during lockdown.
The mother-of-two knew nothing of the background of the money, which was linked to drug trafficking, organised crime and Thomas Maher.
Maher was a facilitator for international crime gangs, including the Kinahan organised crime gang.
He is currently serving 14 years in jail in the UK.
Dawson was used by her former partner Thomas Rooney, a trusted mid-to-high level member of the gang.
He had a black Mercedes S350 as part of his limousine business, which he also used to move the money.
Jason Reed had no legitimate source of income. He had not paid PRSI since 2008 and, yet, gardaí found a range of high-end watches when they raided his home in Dunshaughlin, as well as over €30,000 in cash.
The father-of-three also bought a mobile home for over €17,000.
Gardaí also found an encrypted Aquarius phone, which is used by those involved in organised crime to communicate in secret.
In all, CAB seized 14 luxury watches worth over €150,000, and the Cosalt Super 32 mobile home in a follow-up investigation.
Reed, Rooney and Dawson were named by CAB as gang associates and, while Reed’s wife Charlotte was not a criminal, the bureau said they had a lifestyle beyond their legitimate income.
The Reeds spent over €58,000 at Brown Thomas in Dublin between 2017 and 2021.
They had 14 men's and women's 18ct gold luxury watches, by makers including Raymond Weil, Audemars Piguet and Rolex, with a combined value of €152,000.
They also had the mobile home in Co Wexford and quantities of cash totalling €22,000.
CAB also carried out a financial analysis of Dawson and Rooney's records and found that their purchases of luxury goods and property did not add up to legitimate transactions.
Rooney had placed on bets on his BoyleSports account totalling €85,000, with €81,000 losses between 2006 and 2012.
The account, CAB said, was serviced with funds from unknown sources, the proceeds of criminal activities.
Last year, Jason Reed from Maelduin, Dunshaughlin Co Meath was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment by the Special Criminal Court for money laundering.
Thomas Rooney of Betaghstown, Bettystown, Co Meath was sentenced to six years for money laundering, while Catherine Dawson with an address at Betaghstown Wood, Bettystown received a fully suspended three years and nine-month prison term.
CAB said all of the assets were acquired by the proceeds of crime and today the High Court agreed.
The CAB application was unopposed.
"There seems to be a superfluity of watches going around here," Mr Justice Alexander Owens said.
He himself, he said, has "only has one watch".
