A former Fine Gael councillor from Co Longford is facing a jail sentence in connection with three charges of money laundering.
Frank Kilbride, with an address at Aughakilmore in Ballinalee, was remanded in custody at Longford Circuit Court, after his sentence hearing was adjourned until next week.
The 70-year-old former businessman and broadcaster admitted last December to laundering more than €2.6 million during various dates between 2017 and 2019.
He pleaded guilty to three charges of converting, transferring, handling, acquiring, possessing and using property that is the proceeds of criminal conduct, while knowing that, or believing that, or being reckless as to whether or not the property was the proceeds of criminal conduct.
The three counts of laundering relate to €1.7 million between 5 October 2017 and 27 March 2018, €867,143 between 30 November 2017 and 15 March 2019, and €10,000 between 27 September and 26 November 2017.
Detective Garda Rhona Bohan from Cavan Garda Station gave evidence of large sums of money being lodged and withdrawn into and from two bank accounts opened by Mr Kilbride and linked to a business he said he had sold to a third party for €3,000.
The €1.7 million was moved through a Permanent TSB account in Longford town, while the figure of €867,143 was moved through a Bank of Ireland account in Granard.
Det Garda Bohan said the money was received from companies associated with deceased convicted criminal Cyril McGuiness, who went by the nickname 'Dublin Jimmy', and was transferred in smaller amounts to companies inside and outside of the State, including the UK and Europe.
She said the activities were "not consistent with a legitimate business".
Judge Kenneth Connolly said he "can’t see anyway of dealing with the matter on a non-custodial basis".
Mr Justice Connolly remanded Frank Kilbride in custody because he said he did not want to give "false hope" of a non-custodial term.
The judge said he wanted to spend the weekend reading the entire file on the matter, which he said "will have to attract a significant custodial term".
Kilbride is due to appear again before Longford Circuit Court next Tuesday for his sentence to be finalised.
Det Garda Bohan said the incidents came to light as part of the investigation into the abduction, false imprisonment and assault of businessman Kevin Lunney in 2019.
During search operations in the state, in Northern Ireland and in Buxton in Britain, partial bank statements were recovered, which led gardaí to carry out investigations and examinations into the PTSB and BOI accounts, after gardaí suspected they were being used for money laundering.
She described it as "a very complex investigation" and she said it was "very difficult and time-consuming."
During garda interviews, Kilbride said he accepted what he had done was "careless, absolutely stupid" but he said he had received threatening calls from Mr McGuinness.
The court was told that it was put to the former country music promoter that he was a willing participant.
"That would be fair, I didn't see the criminal side to it," he replied.
Defence barrister Vincent Heneghan SC said his client had made endeavours to contact 'Dublin Jimmy’ in an effort to try to "extract himself from the matter."
Mr Heneghan put it to Det Garda Bohan that the dogs on the street knew Cyril McGuiness was a violent, vicious man.
"That would be fair to say," she replied. "I would say he would be an intimidating man."
In a letter to the judge, Mr Kilbride said: "To put simply, this all started out with what I was led to believe was an innocuous transaction, selling a company to somebody I believed was a bona fide business person."
He said he tried on more than one occasion to shut it down.
"I fell foul of one of the most dangerous criminal organisations that the county has ever seen and in hindsight going to the authorities would have been the right thing to do."
Mr Heneghan said his client gained a trivial sum of money from his activities and he said Mr Kilbride was "ashamed of himself."
He said the 70-year-old is a person "who fell on hard times" and he is a man "who should have known better, who acted stupidly and out of desperation."
"He unwittingly and stupidly allowed himself to be used."
Mr Heneghan said the former two-time mayor of Longford "is a man who is isolated and has fallen from grace and has lost a great deal of respect, for a man who was a successful businessman".
