More than £8m worth of property has been seized by the Assets Recovery Agency in the biggest case of its type ever seen in Northern Ireland.
The High Court in Belfast ruled the agency could freeze 11 bank accounts and take 36 houses belonging to brothers Joseph and Francis McGleenan.
The agency said their brother, Damien McGleenan, was a fuel smuggler and they had helped to launder his profits.
The three, from Keady in south Armagh, had strongly contested the action.
The overall value has been estimated at £8.2 million.
The amount is in addition to an original order granted against Damien McGleenan in January 2006 worth £400,000.
The agency's deputy director Alan McQuillan said it was "one of the most valuable portfolios of assets" ever frozen in Northern Ireland.
"We started with the investigation into one individual and a relatively modest amount of assets," he said.
"But the receiver soon identified a huge range of properties held by his brothers which have also been frozen.
"In getting this order today, we had to be able to show to the High Court that we had a good arguable case that these assets were also the proceeds of crime."
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~10~RS~)