In a shocking revelation, a finance expert has claimed that he was hired by the notorious Kinahan cartel to invest a staggering €225m in what was purported to be a unique and highly lucrative investment opportunity: “art and whiskey.” The claims have sent shock waves through law enforcement agencies and the financial world alike, raising questions about the reach and the sophistication of criminal enterprises in the modern era. In this article, we delve deeper into the claims made by the finance expert, the potential implications of such investments, and the challenges faced by authorities in combating organized crime.
A financial advisor, referred to as ‘Opel’, recently spoke to The Sunday Times about his involvement in setting up “banking schemes” for a notorious organised crime group led by Daniel Kinahan, his brother Christopher, and their father Christy Kinahan Snr. Opel claimed that he was initially recruited in 2020 to launder around €67 million for the cartel after being put in touch with a mysterious “middleman”, although this figure later rose to just over €225 million.
An investment scheme was created whereby the Kinahans and their associates could transfer money from Hong Kong – the proceeds of dodgy property investments – to international offshore accounts in small amounts in order to avoid detection by the Chinese government. Opel’s role was to set up banking schemes so the group could invest substantial sums of money in areas such as art, wine, crypto, whiskey, and stocks.
He claimed that he did not know he was working for mobsters until the American sanctions were broadcast worldwide, and had only been aware that he was “working for a father and son team that were supposedly the biggest drug dealers in Europe” years before the Kinahan name was widely publicised.
Opel never met the trio at the top of the cartel, as he was working with three Irishmen instead. However, the middleman who is alleged to be a German or Austrian national would talk to Opel about the Kinahans constantly, and he would often fly to Dubai and other countries in Europe to sort out problems for them.
Opel and the middleman engaged in discussions about tactics for laundering the Kinahan cartel’s money, including investing in a Banksy piece worth $16 million and a painting by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama that was being auctioned for almost $3 million. But things went south when the Kinahans and the middleman “vanished” last year after the US government imposed sanctions on the cartel.
The middleman’s sudden disappearance led Opel to believe that he had been conned. He had been cautious and had told the middleman that he wanted to meet the Kinahans before he could complete any transactions, but that never happened.
Opel added that he has been living in fear ever since the cartel vanished without a trace, as they could harm him or his family if they found out he was talking to the media, although he has taken measures to protect himself.
The Kinahan cartel became one of Ireland’s most powerful organised crime groups and had operated globally for many years. However, they disbanded after the Irish police, with the help of European authorities, carried out a major operation that led to dozens of arrests, including the arrest of Christopher Kinahan in Belgium in 2020. An estimated €80 million worth of assets were seized during the operation.
In conclusion, financial advisor ‘Opel’ has shed light on his experience in setting up banking schemes for the Kinahan organised crime group, which involved the transfer of large sums of money via international offshore accounts to invest in various areas. Although he initially worked with a middleman, the Kinahans allegedly vanished after the US government imposed sanctions on the cartel, leaving Opel to believe that he had been conned.
