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Noted gangland figure Martin Foley has approached the High Court to prevent the Criminal Assets Bureau from evicting his family over a nearly one million euro tax debt.
Martin The Viper Foley, a well-known figure in the Dublin underworld, has initiated a legal battle in the High Court to stop the Criminal Assets Bureau, commonly known as Cab, from seizing and selling his residence in Kimmage.
Appearing before Judge David Nolan, Foley acted as his own legal representative to request an urgent stay against the repossession of his home on Cashel Avenue. The court was informed that the deadline for the eviction is set for September 16th, a date that Foley claims would leave him, his wife Sonya, and their young child completely homeless.
While Judge Nolan denied the request for an immediate ex-parte stay, he did allow Foley to provide short notice to Cab regarding his intention to bring a formal application for a stay before the court the following Tuesday. This procedural step ensures that the legal representatives for the bureau can be present to argue their case against Foley's application. The root of the conflict lies in a substantial outstanding tax liability that Foley has failed to settle.
The Criminal Assets Bureau has assessed that the veteran criminal owes more than 916,000 euros in unpaid taxes dating back to the year 2000. This legal struggle has spanned over a decade, culminating in a possession order issued by the Circuit Court in 2024.
Although Foley was previously granted an 18-month grace period to secure alternative living arrangements, he argues that new accounting information has since emerged, which justifies a further delay to allow for a proper appeal of the existing orders. The property itself is registered in the names of Foley and his late wife, Pauline, but his current spouse, Sonya, contends that she holds a rightful claim to at least half of the equity.
She has expressed deep concern that the sale of the home would result in her and their daughter being cast onto the streets, asserting that she has no financial means to purchase another property. In an attempt to resolve the matter without eviction, the 75-year-old Foley proposed several alternatives to the court.
He suggested the implementation of a Mortgage to Rent Scheme, which would allow Cab to sell the property while permitting the family to remain in the home through a structured monthly payment plan. Additionally, Foley offered to surrender the financial benefits of two ongoing defamation lawsuits he is pursuing against Penguin Books and the BBC.
He further claimed that there had been a prior informal agreement between himself and the Revenue Commissioners, suggesting that his tax debts would not be pursued if he refrained from seeking 120,000 euros from Charles Bowden. Bowden, a former associate involved in the John Gilligan drugs gang who later entered witness protection, had been a central figure in Foley's past, having admitted to loading the weapon used in a shooting that seriously injured Foley.
Despite these assertions, the legal team for the Criminal Assets Bureau remains skeptical of Foley's claims. Barrister Shaula Connaughton Deeny argued that the evidence provided regarding Sonya Foley's disability and inability to work is vague and lacks supporting documentation.
Furthermore, the court heard that the couple had failed to produce official marriage or birth certificates for their child born in 2015. Foley continues to maintain that the house was inherited from his mother and was not acquired through criminal activity, though the court noted that the primary issue is the tax debt rather than the origin of the asset.
He also mentioned a payment of 36,000 euros made to the Revenue Commissioners over two decades ago, arguing that this should be credited as a set-off against his total debt. As the case moves toward the next hearing, the family remains in a precarious position, facing the possibility of losing their only residence due to a long-standing financial dispute with the state
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