Liquidators assigned to charity in money-laundering probe

Updated / Tuesday, 27 Oct 2026 17:25

The High Court has appointed provisional liquidators to a charity at the centre of a garda investigation into money laundering.

The liquidators were appointed following an application by the Charities Regulator as part of a petition to wind up the charity, Liberties Recycling and Development Company limited.

In a statement, the regulator said the appointment of a liquidator places executive control of the charity into independent hands immediately, to enable transitional arrangements to be put in place to support the charity's vulnerable service users and employees, and to secure the assets of the charity and their transfer, if possible, to another charity with a similar charitable purpose.

The regulator said it sought the order following engagement with the trustees when a garda money laundering investigation seized around €300,000 in assets.

The investigation has been ongoing for some time.

Gardaí from the money laundering unit carried out a series of searches in Dublin and in the south and east of the country last week.

They seized two BMW X5 cars worth around a quarter of a million euro along with Louis Vuitton bags, Rolex watches and jewellery with an estimated value of €40,000.

Sinn Féin has confirmed that its TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh is the chair of Liberty Recycling and said it supports the investigations by gardaí and the Charities Regulator.

It said: "Deputy Ó Snodaigh has engaged with the office of the Charities Regulator and has not been contacted by Gardaí, but if required, he will make himself available to assist with their inquiries."

The regulator also said that while there is no evidence that the charity trustees are involved in the activities under investigation by the GNECB, the Charities Regulator formed the view, from the trustees’ engagement with the regulator and their response to situation, that there was little or no effective management or oversight of the charity’s activities.

The charity has shops in several counties around the country and is involved in recycling clothes and other goods.

Its website describes how it operates a clothes recycling "initiative to provide employment and training to local people affected by drugs".

The Charities Regulator said that Shane McCarthy and Cormac O’Connor of KPMG have been appointed as joint provisional liquidators of the charity and that there will be a High Court hearing on the winding up application in November.