Irish crime news

Leak reveals sanctioned money launderer John Morrissey set up offshore companies and sought to open Panamanian bank accounts tied to the site.

Morrissey balked at the cost, according to emails, complaining that it made no sense to pay for a “ghost office.” It’s not clear how or whether the matter was resolved, or if an account was ever opened. Nicola told one interviewer that the company had been named Nero because “John’s passion is the gladiators and the Roman Empire.” Emails show Mossack Fonseca’s lawyers and managers discussing how best to help Morrissey and a partner, Glenn Patrick Cunningham, set up bank accounts for processing “subscription” payments to the internet site, through Holmhurst, the shell company. The Kinahan cartel has been linked to dozens of shell companies around the world. It’s not clear how long Morrissey has been part of the Kinahan cartel. He was met at the airport by a courtesy car from the law firm. Later that year, Morrissey set up a company, Northcote Development Holdings SA, in the British Virgin Islands, a renowned corporate secrecy and tax haven. According to media reports, Morrissey is a longtime mobster who has been implicated in killings and other crimes. Northcote then became the sole shareholder in a Panama-incorporated company, Holmhurst SA. Through his wife, Morrissey also controls Nero Drinks Co. Ltd., a vodka maker based in Glasgow, Scotland, and he has been a brand ambassador for the company, his most public venture. A co-founder of the site, incorporation records show, was John Francis “Johnny” Morrissey, now 62-years-old, an Irish citizen accused of some of the crimes his website promised to expose. The U.S. sanctions, which targeted seven members of the cartel, including Morrissey, have put new pressure on the cartel and the countries that host affiliated businesses and gang members.