South Fingal.here
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Tramp that guy I’d have blared it
Daniel Kinahan goes from crime boss to sporting big hitter
The gangster boss has recast himself as a boxing powerbroker in the Middle East
Kinahan moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2017 to evade arrest
ALAMY
John Mooney
Sunday May 17 2020, 12.01am BST, The Sunday Times
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‘He has been more than honourable with us, a man of his word, so our relationships are good.” Daniel Kinahan could hardly have asked for a more favourable endorsement than the one he received from boxing promoter Bob Arum during a recent interview with iFL TV, a YouTube channel dedicated to the sport.
“A lot of fighters rely on him for advice. We have great confidence in Kinahan. He has great connections. Everybody trusts Kinahan. He is one of my favourite guys,” Arum added.
With no mention of Kinahan’s involvement in organised crime, gangland murders or the drugs trade, Arum’s endorsement shows how the leader of the most powerful criminal gang to emerge from Ireland has reinvented himself since moving to the Middle East.
Kinahan is now regarded as a serious player in the glitzy world of boxing promotions and event management, an industry that has given him influence and a degree of social legitimacy. He is working on a plan to stage a heavyweight championship fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in the region. Much to the disbelief of Garda Headquarters, Kinahan was recently appointed a special adviser to KHK Sports, a company controlled by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, a member of Bahrain’s royal family. This also surprised security services in Britain, Spain and the Netherlands, who are still targeting the Kinahan cartel.
Kinahan moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2017 to evade arrest after the cartel became the subject of an investigation by European police forces. The inquiry was prompted by the outbreak of a vicious feud in Dublin after an attempt was made on Kinahan’s life as he attended a boxing weigh-in at the Regency hotel in February 2016. About 20 people have been murdered in the Hutch-Kinahan feud, including victims of mistaken identity.
The involvement of wealthy criminals in legitimate industries such as sports promotion is nothing new. The mafia in America were involved in professional boxing. The Camorra syndicate had links to Napoli Football Club in the 1980s.
Across the globe, criminals penetrate legitimate businesses, using the money, political influence and global links of their illegal activities to attain status, says James Windle, a lecturer in criminology at University College Cork (UCC).
Boxing promoter Bob Arum gave a ringing endorsement to Kinahan
DAVE SHOPLAND/BPI/REX
“When criminal organisations reach a certain size, they move into legitimate industry. They inevitably end up running legitimate enterprises using the same techniques they used to build their illegitimate enterprises,” he said.
“Power and money tend to be driving forces. Often, they are looking for status and something which allows them to make money. Big organised crime groups like mafias keep a foot in both legitimate and illegitimate businesses.”
Some young criminals, according to Windle, are essentially illicit entrepreneurs. “They are aggressive, they are capitalists, and they are interested in making money. Think about the opportunity which boxing presents and its historic links to the underworld. People in this world often want to parade around with gangsters. Often there is a bit of mystery and aura around them. In some ways, it makes them charismatic. People rarely take note of what criminal gangs actually do. They don’t think about the violence, the shootings and the misery they inflict.”
Money and ambition are what differentiate Kinahan and his cartel from other Irish crime gangs. Gardai say his family got ahead just by becoming better organised. The gang expanded far beyond the traditional drug markets and supplied cocaine to gangs across Europe and further afield. They also adopted innovations in communications, such as advanced electronic encryption, to thwart police surveillance. “The cartel is run like an international conglomerate crossed with a terrorist organisation,” said one detective last week.
An insight into the gang’s structure was given to the Special Criminal Court last week during the trial of Mark Capper, who pleaded guilty to offences linked to the gang. In evidence, a garda superintendent told the non-jury court of the gang’s involvement in murderous feuds, drug trafficking and the arms trade.
The gang is hierarchical in structure, according to Detective Superintendent David Gallagher. Day-to-day activities are carried out by cells that operate to “benefit and enhance the capabilities” of the wider organisation. For security reasons, cells are unaware of what other cells do.
Intelligence on the cartel suggests Daniel Kinahan oversees its crime operations while his brother Christopher Jr runs an international property and business portfolio estimated to be worth up to €1bn. The family patriarch Christy Sr has now retired, in his early sixties.
The Kinahan family now run a transnational organisation that has invested in everything from holiday resorts in Brazil to commercial properties in eastern Europe. In 2008, Spanish police secured freezing orders on property worth up to €750m in Europe and South America, though little was eventually seized. According to that inquiry, the cartel had invested €500m in holiday resorts in Brazil alone and €160m in Spanish property. A villa in Marbella was valued at €6m.
Kinahan’s bid to look legitimate is nothing new. The cartel has “sponsored” social media campaigns to portray him as a sports promoter, while journalists who raise his crime links are trolled on Twitter. Kinahan is often portrayed as a victim of a media campaign to blacken his name.
“Daniel Kinahan was in the process of creating a new persona when the Regency attack took place,” said a former member of the Criminal Assets Bureau. “He had built a gym in Marbella and was managing some very good boxers. It’s something he’s actually good at.
“He became a household name for all the wrong reasons . . . [after] the Regency attack. He knew he could never become an acceptable businessman on this side of the world after all the murders and shootings, but it might be possible in the Middle East. No one seems to care about his background there.”
Dear lord
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Endorsed by a slippery tucker like arum is like been endorsed by prince phillip.
I think the most frightening part of this columnist the Dutch , English and Spanish are trying g to fight a war for ireland with these scores.
I understand that they are dealing in said countries but it looks like they were doing nowth until the slaughter commenced.
The Spanish had the best chance to nail them.
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Looks like it has decent production values. Must have been some cash behind it.
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Rapidly deteriorates to conspiracy stuff there on the government. Also it makes it look like Kinehan was by himself, he had bodyguards etc.
Where were the police on the day?
No idea pal
Any mention of the letter from the detective who killed himself?
Don’t get me wrong, lots of things with that stink, but let’s not go crazy on the conspiracy.
But the content of the letter obviously had a material enough impact that it caused the trial to collapse?
Surely we are entitled to know what the letter said if it caused a trial to collapse? FOI to the office of prosecution or something
The Hutch - Kinihan feud is old news, gangland watchers nowadays are more interested in the Drogheda feud.
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This cunt needs to be taken down.
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