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ARA seizes assets after alleged fuel smuggling
Assets worth £700,000 belonging to two alleged fuel smugglers in
south Armagh have been frozen by the High Court in Belfast.
The Assets Recovery Agency (ACA) have targeted properties and money belonging
to Damien John McGleenan of Keady and Neil Gerard Vallely of Meadowvale,
Newtownhamilton.
Assets in Louth and Armagh have been frozen. The ARA obtained orders from
a Belfast court alleging they were derived from fuel smuggling, as well
as VAT and excise duty evasion, after the cases were referred by HM Revenue
and Customs.
Mr McGleenan is the owner of McGleenan Fuels in Keady while Mr Vallely
is the proprietor of NV Oils in Newtownhamilton.
ARA assistant director Alan McQuillan said that both men were "prominent"
oil dealers in south Armagh. He added that fuel smuggling and laundering
were major areas of organised crime in Northern Ireland and that the ARA
was working closely with Revenue and Customs to ensure that this type
of crime did not pay.
Mr McGleenan's frozen assets include a Keady pub, four properties in Keady
and two at Dundalk, proceeds from the sale of four properties at Keady,
Dundalk and Drogheda as well as money in a range of bank accounts.
Assets belonging to Mr Vallely which have been frozen include money, properties
in Newtownhamilton and Whitecross, proceeds from the sale of properties
in Newtownhamilton, Drogheda and Belleeks.
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