Spanish judge moves to charge Gerry 'the Monk' Hutch

Gerard Couzens

A Spanish judge has decided there is enough evidence to charge Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch - and asked public prosecutors if they want to formally accuse him of money laundering.

Well-placed sources said last month, after it emerged the alleged crime boss planned to run as a candidate in the upcoming Dublin Central by-election, that the long-running criminal probe he has been the focus of following his arrest in Lanzarote in October 2024 was nearing its end.

The 62-year-old spent nearly a fortnight on remand in prison on the holiday island, along with another suspect who was among nine people held as part of a money laundering investigation.

Today, the Canary Islands High Court confirmed public prosecutors had been asked by the investigating judge heading the case whether they intended to indict Hutch.

Officials said in a statement: “The Investigating Court Two of Arrecife, Lanzarote, has converted the preliminary proceedings initiated against an Irish citizen investigated as the alleged leader of an international criminal gang for alleged money laundering into summary proceedings.

“The suspect was held in preventive detention between 25 October and 4 November and is currently on provisional release on bail.

“A total of 10 people are under investigation in the case.

“The proceedings have been referred to the Public Prosecutor's Office for it to report on whether or not to proceed to trial and, if so, to issue a provisional indictment.

“The identities of the persons under investigation are protected by the Organic Law on Data Protection.

“In response to questions from Irish and British journalists in recent weeks, the criminal proceedings are in no way affected by the fact that the main suspect has announced or confirmed that he is standing for election in his country.

“Preliminary proceedings become summary proceedings when the magistrate or investigating judge, after examining all the evidence deemed relevant, considers that there is reasonable evidence of criminality to bring criminal proceedings against the persons under investigation.

“In cases where the sentence that could be requested in abstract terms is less than nine years' imprisonment, summary proceedings are chosen.

“If the request could exceed this, a preliminary investigation would be initiated.

“By court order, the ruling is not being made public.”

Any trial, if it ends up going ahead, would be unlikely to take place before the by-election, Hutch’s second attempt to take a seat in the Dail following his previous bid last year, when he used his political aspirations to secure bail after a month in Lanzarote’s tough Tahiche Prison.

But the timing of the end of the long-running investigation at a court in the Lanzarote capital Arrecife, could mean that when it comes round to poll day, public prosecutors will have already released their indictment calling for prison time for Hutch on conviction if he is ordered to stand trial.

A secrecy order, preventing the Irishman’s defence team from accessing full case files and public officials from making any detailed comment about the money laundering and criminal gang allegations he was facing, was in place for several months at the start of the court investigation.

The Canary Islands’ High Court confirmed last month: “The investigation led by Arrecife’s Court of Instruction is still in its preliminary phase, in which the investigating magistrate is still probing whether crimes have been committed and if so who should answer for those offences.

“But the secrecy order that was in place has now been lifted.”

A well-placed insider who has been involved in the case said at the time: “The investigation is nearing its end.

“Hutch could find out in a matter of weeks if there is a criminal case with formal charges laid.”

Another source added: “A trial if charges are forthcoming won’t happen any time soon, but if as expected, the judge rules in the run-up to Christmas or early in the New Year, public prosecutors will react very soon afterwards.

“If the judge recommends charges and trial, Hutch could well be going into the Dublin by-election with the real threat of prison hanging over his head.”

Hutch, beaten in last November’s General Election, Labour’s Marie Sherlock in the race for the four-seater Dublin Central constituency after she received a few thousand transfers from both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail in the last two counts to keep him out, has yet to make any official comment about his new Dail bid.

But his associates have reactivated once-dormant Instagram and TikTok accounts used during his previous campaign.

One of the main arguments accepted by public prosecutors and the investigating judge probing Hutch over alleged money laundering offences, who let him out of prison following his October 23 2024, arrest and incarceration and attached no travel ban to his release, was that it would harm his election chances.

Hutch had to pay a €100,000 bail bond before he was allowed out of jail on November 4 last year.

The Irishman was one of nine people accused of belonging to a 'criminal money-laundering gang' arrested during raids by police in Lanzarote and mainland Spain.

One of the properties searched was Hutch’s €450,000 penthouse in the popular Costa del Sol holiday resort of Fuengirola, where the Irishman was spotted the same day he was released after flying to Malaga from his Canaries’ home.

A judge remanded Gerry and an alleged right-hand man to prison following behind-closed-doors court appearances, but released the other seven suspects on bail.

In a statement the day of Hutch’s release, court officials said: “The Irish citizen remanded in custody in Lanzarote on October 25th as the alleged leader of an international criminal gang has been provisionally released on bail of EUROS 100,000 this morning, November 4th, after Court of Instruction Number Two in Arrecife upheld his appeal against the imprisonment order.
“The investigating magistrate took this decision after receiving a report from the Public Prosecutor's Office, which was favourable to the appeal.

“The Irish citizen is being investigated as the alleged perpetrator of a money laundering offence committed in the context of a criminal organisation.”

The Lanzarote court ruling follows claims from Garda sources earlier this week that they expected the case against Gerry Hutch to be “dropped very soon.”

A well-placed source in Lanzarote said today: “The investigating judge’s decision shows quite the opposite. The ball is now in the court of Spanish public prosecutors, and they will have to say whether they intend indicting Hutch.

“But the fact they are being asked and the judge clearly considers there is enough evidence to bring criminal proceedings against the people who have been investigated demonstrates things haven't gone cold or even lukewarm."