Anthony McAuley (46) of Brackloon, Kiltullagh, Athenry, was stopped by custom officers in Dublin Airport on March 1, 2009 as he was about to board a flight to Malaga

Anthony McAuley (46) of Brackloon, Kiltullagh, Athenry, was stopped by custom officers in Dublin Airport on March 1, 2009 as he was about to board a flight to Malaga. A search of his suitcase, which he had checked in, revealed €35,050 concealed in white envelopes hidden among his clothing.

He had booked a one way ticket to Malaga three days earlier, which had been purchased using the credit card of another man, who has convictions for drug possession.

Mr McAuley told custom officers in later interviews that he was travelling to Spain to visit his father who owns a property there and claimed he was intending to use the cash to buy himself and his family a Spanish home.

Mr McAuley had received a €100,000 in a compensation claim in November 2007 and was later able to provide documentation to prove this.

Judge Tony Hunt noted that Mr McAuley claimed that he had a “ticket touting” business and that he needed to deal in cash a lot in order to buy expensive season tickets for premier soccer matches.

He said he would have expected a lot more detail about the running of this business and previously commented that because Mr McAuley had never made returns for this enterprise he had possibly committed a revenue offence.

Judge Hunt said he could not understand why it was “necessary at all to enlist the help of a third party” in relation to the other man purchasing the flights for him.

He said he had not been provided with any documentation or information in relation to the property Mr McAuley was intending to purchase in Spain, how much he was intending to spend, and how he was planning to fund the purchase of it.

Judge Hunt said he could not understand why Mr McAuley chose to carry “all his worldly goods in his checked in luggage where it would be subject to being lost, scanned, or rifled”.

The judge said there were “large dark areas in relation to Mr McAuley’s case” before he confiscated the €35,050 and forfeited it to the State. He commented: “I have a very strong view on this case.”

Mr John Byrne BL, prosecuting, read from an affidavit before the court that Mr McAuley, who has no previous convictions, was stopped in Dublin Airport on March 1, 2009 by customs officer Eoin Flood. He was about to board a flight to Malaga.

Mr McAuley told the officer that he was travelling to Spain to visit his father who had a house there and that he was thinking of buying a property himself in Malaga. He had purchased a one way ticket three days previously.