Gerry Hutch free to travel despite election defeat and alleged money laundering investigation in Spain – The Irish Times

Gerard Hutch has been told he can remain a free man and travel freely between Lanzarote and Ireland for the time being despite being investigated in Spain for alleged money laundering.

The 61-year-old Dubliner, also known as “The Monk”, used his political aspirations to secure bail a month ago so he could stand as a candidate in the general election.

He was defeated by Labour’s Marie Sherlock in the four-seat Dublin Central constituency after receiving votes from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in the last two counts that overtook Hutch.

Today, after it emerged that the crime boss nicknamed El Monje plans to fly back to his holiday home in Lanzarote after spending Christmas with his family in Ireland, officials on the Spanish island confirmed that his electoral setback did not mean a return automatic to prison.

One of the main arguments accepted by prosecutors and the investigating judge who investigated him for alleged money laundering crimes, who allowed his release after his arrest and imprisonment on October 23 and did not impose any travel ban upon his release, was that would harm his electoral chances.

Hutch had to pay bail of 100,000 euros before he was allowed to leave Tahiche prison in Arrecife, the capital of Lanzarote, on November 4.

When asked about Hutch’s situation, a spokesperson for the Superior Court of the Canary Islands said: “His personal situation has not changed.

“For it to change, prosecutors, as the only plaintiff in this case, would have to request it and argue why they believe that a hypothetical return to preventive detention would be appropriate in this case and the judge would have to issue a ruling after the prosecution. presentations.

“To this day this is not something that has happened. Therefore, the ball is largely in the court of the public ministry.”

Local representatives of the Canary Islands Public Ministry have been contacted for comment.

Sources close to the investigation said they thought it was unlikely that prosecutors would publicly state what plans, if any, they have regarding Hutch’s prosecution.

They believe it was even more unlikely that they would try to persuade a judge that pre-trial detention was now necessary unless he did something to suggest he was a flight risk.

Film director Jim Sheridan, who worked with Hutch on a documentary during the election campaign, says the Dubliner would be in Ireland “and then return to sunnier climes.”

Hutch was one of nine people accused of belonging to a “criminal money laundering gang” arrested during police raids in Lanzarote and mainland Spain on October 23.

One of the properties searched was Hutch’s penthouse, valued at 450,000 euros, in the Fuengirola holiday complex on the Costa del Sol, where the Irishman was seen on the day of his release after flying to Malaga from his home in the Canary Islands.

A judge sent Hutch and an alleged associate to prison after closed court appearances, but released the other seven suspects on bail.

The Spanish court imposed no conditions on his release and the investigating judge took into account Hutch’s candidacy in the Irish general election.

Hutch had claimed that his detention would have caused “irreparable harm” to his right to participate in the election.

The other person who was in prison on October 25 remains in prison, the court said.

Spanish judicial and legal sources said Hutch is unlikely to be returned to prison in the short term despite losing his election bid.

While his election candidacy was one of the reasons for his release, it is likely that the court also took other factors into account.

“He probably did not meet the fairly strict legal requirements for preventive detention: risk of flight, recidivism or destruction of evidence,” said a judicial source.

Legal experts said that even if he had been elected in Dublin, Hutch would still have been subject to extradition and prosecution in Spain in connection with the money laundering investigation.

Spanish parliamentarians are entitled to immunity from prosecution before ordinary courts in certain circumstances, said Adrián Rubio, associate professor of public law at IE University in Spain.

“That said, the scope of application of the constitutional provisions on inviolability and immunity is personally restricted to Spanish deputies and senators,” he stated.

“Consequently, if Mr Hutch had been elected in Ireland, he would not have been successful in invoking inviolability or parliamentary immunity before the Spanish courts on the basis of Spanish constitutional provisions.

“In other words, he would only have been able to enjoy special judicial treatment if he had been elected as a member of the Spanish Parliament.”

Court officials confirmed today that the gag order, which prevented Hutch’s defense attorney from accessing case files and public officials from making detailed comments about the allegations he faces, had not yet been lifted.

No formal charges have been brought as is customary in Spain, where suspects are only charged shortly before trial. It could be some time before Hutch finds out if he is likely to face trial.