Gangster at top of RIRA hit list files for bankruptcy in UK.
KEVIN DOYLE – 01 JULY 2013 02:30 PM
A GANGSTER who tops a Real IRA hit list has declared bankruptcy in the Britain.
A Kildare criminal Troy Jordan gave an address in a seaside town in Lancashire, in northern England, on documents submitted to the UK courts.
Gardai believe the 43-year-old is one of the most serious players in the drug-trafficking world and is under threat from a number of different criminals here.
The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) previously won a tax judgement against him for €800,000.
Earlier this year, Jordan was reportedly one of a dozen gangsters summoned to meetings with the Real IRA, who demanded protection money to enable him to continue his drug-dealing racket. However, he refused to hand over any cash.
Jordan's bankruptcy is likely to raise eyebrows in the criminal underworld, where he has made some major enemies.
It has emerged that the criminal mastermind, who was previously described in the Irish courts as a horse trader, was declared bankrupt at Blackpool County Court on May 31.
Along with a UK address, Jordan listed a previous residence as Allenwood South, near Naas, Co Kildare.
According to the UK Insolvency Service an official receiver has been appointed to handle his case.
The move means that not only will Jordan avoid going through the Irish courts – where he recently lost a challenge to his CAB tax settlement – he will also be discharged from bankruptcy in May of next year.
Resigned
Under current Irish law, bankruptcy lasts for 12 years.
Jordan's business links over the years have included Martin 'Viper' Foley and Geraldine Gilligan, ex wife of jailed drug dealer John Gilligan.
Along with Foley, Jordan helped to found Viper Debate Recovery and Repossession Services in 2005. He resigned as a director in June 2010. During her legal battle with CAB over the Jessbrook Equestrian Centre in Enfield, Co Kildare, Geraldine Gilligan told the High Court in 2008 her only income was €5,000 per annum that she received from Jordan "for grass".
Despite having a massive criminal pedigree, Jordan has managed to avoid incurring any major convictions to date.
He has forked out significant amounts of cash to the IRA in the past, when it was being run from Dublin by Alan Ryan.
However, after Christmas, he decided to take a different approach with new leadership of the Real IRA in Dublin.
Jordan not only refused to do a deal, he verbally abused the dissident godfathers before leaving. His life has been under threat since.
He was twice arrested by officers investigating the brutal gun murder of Latvian mum Baiba Saulite.
His battle with CAB, which seizes the proceeds of crime, began in 2005 when they demanded a tax payment of €800,000 for activities between 1992 and 2003.
Jordan challenged the assessment on the grounds that there was no information on which to prepare an appeal but, ultimately, lost the case.
