Judge rules on Paul Carr’s claim to Euro 36,000

Saturday September 28,2013 : POKER PLAYER LOSES ‘PROCEEDS OF CRIME'
 
Judge rules on Paul Carr's claim to Euro 36,000.
 
Our readers may recall the case of Paul Carr, a 33-year-old Irish poker pro who has been contesting the seizure of Euro 36,000 found during a police search of a residential premises occupied by the girlfriend of one of Carr's friends in May 2011.
 
Prosecutors alleged the money was the proceeds of crime and should be forfeited to the State, whilst Carr claimed that his associate's girlfriend had merely been holding part of a large poker tournament win for him.
 
Carr told police that he had won Euro 300,000 in a poker classic tournament just before the 2011 raid, but police evidence was that although he was present at the tournament he had not won that sort of money. He had, however, received major winnings from a Paddy Power tournament held in April the year before.
 
The case was heard in the Limerick Circuit Court this week, reports the Irish Examiner newspaper.
 
After hearing police evidence that Carr and his associate had extensive criminal records which contained drug convictions; that Carr consorted with criminals; and that the holding and concealment of cash in such large amounts was a classic method used by criminals to avoid detection, Judge Tom O'Donnell said he was satisfied on the balance of probability that the money was the proceeds of crime, and ruled that the Euro 36,000 should be forfeit to the State.
 
The court was also told that cash totalling Euro 244,330 belonging to Carr, was seized by the police in August of 2011 after it was found in a plastic bag in a car and may be the subject of forfeiture proceedings at a future date.