A FINANCE PROFESSIONAL has fled the country after claiming he survived an assassination attempt by the Kinahan gang last month.
His disappearance comes on the heels of the shooting dead last night of Noel Kirwan in Ronanstown, west Dublin. He was a friend of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch and died just before 5.30pm, the eleventh victim of the Kinahan-Hutch feud.
His killing marks a resurgence in the bitter feud, and compounds fears that the Kinahan cartel wants to completely wipe out the Hutches and their associates.
It comes just weeks after a businessman claims shots were fired outside his home in south Dublin.
The man, who is in his 30s, is believed to have been involved in organising the finances of members of the Hutch family over a number of years.
The man has no criminal convictions but was handed a garda information message (GIM) in the middle of November, informing him that his life is at risk.
Told officers he was shot at
A GIM is a document which gardaí must serve to people when they receive information that their lives might be at risk.
Then, at the end of last month, the businessman walked into his local Garda station and told officers he had been shot at days previously. Gardai found two burnt-out cars in the area at the time which they now believe are connected to his claims. The man has since left the country and his family has no idea where has fled to.
The risk to his life is regarded as more evidence that the Kinahan cartel is targeting individuals who would once have been considered safe from any murder attempts.
Sources say that the cartel is determined to destroy all traces of the Hutch gang. The murders of Eddie Hutch Snr, the Monk’s innocent taxi driver brother, and Noel Duggan, the Monk’s best friend, have shown how the criminal dynamic is shifting in a new direction. Yesterday evening’s killing of Noel Kirwan adds credence to this picture.
The threat to a married father from the suburbs is a new departure for the Kinahan gang as security sources said it is becoming harder for gardaí to keep tabs on all potential targets.
The man has a number of businesses operating in the west Dublin area.
Potential killers
When TheJournal.ie checked his registered businesses, we found several companies where he is listed as a director. His home address was also readily available in a search. However, any potential killers would already be well aware of his home address and places he had been frequenting in his daily routine.
This is the latest person connected to members of the Hutch family to be put in danger. The Kinahan cartel has been steadily increasing the number of people they are planning to kill.
Security sources have told TheJournal.ie that the man has previously provided financial services for Gerry Hutch, aka The Monk.
Hutch himself has been moving from place to place since the Kinahan wiped out five members of his family and friends in the aftermath of the Regency Hotel murder in February of this year.
They are Gary Hutch, Eddie Hutch Snr, Gareth Hutch, Noel Duggan and Hutch associate Michael Barr.
Gerry Hutch has been changing between an address in north county Dublin, a mobile home in rural Louth and a number of locations in the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.
The Criminal Assets Bureau has also been investigating the actions of the businessman, investigating claims that he has been involved in helping to launder millions in foreign and domestic currency for gangs.
Danger of Hutch link
His identity was uncovered when CAB agents were investigating another man who is an alleged senior business partner of criminal gangs in west Dublin.
The link to Gerry Hutch – and the fact that Hutch is being facilitated in having money available to him – is what has inspired the Kinahans to try and kill him. Without such funding, security sources believe, the Monk would be forced to return to Ireland permanently.
There are currently a number of active investigations being carried out by CAB into gangland activity. It has also emerged that a sister of one of the country’s most well-known gangland targets was arrested by the bureau last month.
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