Crime World

***This episode was originally broadcast in June 2022***A survivor of the Cold War and of the notorious Russian Gulags, Imre Arakas was an international hitman who washed up on our shores like a character dreamed up in a work of fiction. His paymaster for this trip was Daniel Kinahan, the son of Christy Kinahan Snr and director general of the Irish mafia on the Costa Del Sol where Arakas lived. He’d worked for them before and he’d always been paid swiftly and efficiently on completion of a job He’d flown into Dublin with a tent, a little camping stove, fishing rods and binoculars, looking every bit the nature lover who enjoyed holidays in the great outdoors. Despite his celebrity as an international hitman for hire, Arakas was confident that nobody would know him in Ireland and that he could pass off as a tourist. It didn’t quite work out like that though. This is his story.

International hitman Imre Arakas is facing two murder trials in Lithuania and a court has heard that he is accused of killing of an MMA fighter as well as a celebrity gangster.Arakas who served time in Ireland for conspiracy to murder Hutch associate James ‘Mago’ Gately has continued to give interviews behind bars denying any involvement in serious crime.Nicola speaks to Niall Donald about the suspected cold-blooded killer who moonlights as a fisherman.

A chop shop and a luxury boom boom bar formed the focus of a proceeds of crime case taken against Longford gangster Blondie Stokes.And now the father of seven is set to lose his home after a Judge said there was no explanation for the source of money spent on extensive renovations at the property.Nicola speaks to Eamon Dillon about the chop shop boss that has come a cropper.

Crime World Producer Clodagh Meaney has just returned from the world’s biggest criminal get-together in Nashville in the US where she found someone with a story to tell everywhere she turned.Clodagh tells Nicola and Niall about her experience at Crime Con which attracted 6,000 visitors and where she found TV detectives, high profile crime victims and even a US version of our own silver fox Niall Donald.

A man who once went on a botched one million euro cash in transit robbery with slain mobster Eamon 'The Don' Dunne and the Bradley brothers Alan and Wayne has been stabbed to death.Michael 'Chino' Ryan was 51 when he died last week in Dublin in what's believed to have been a drunken brawl.Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the murder and about the career of the one-time gangland heavy.

Real IRA man Nathan Kinsella told cops that he had a millionaire pal who gifted him hundreds of thousands of euro while he was on the dole and that he didn’t believe there was anything ‘dodgy in it.The former pal of murdered Alan Ryan pleaded guilty to failure to pay Capital Acquisitions Tax from the years 2018 through to 2020 relating to almost half a million euro which went through three bank accounts.So who is Nathan Kinsella and what are his links to the one-time heir to Ireland’s greatest fortune, Jimmy Mansfield Jnr.Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about the terrorist, his generous friend and a money laundering investigation centred on the shamed Mansfield empire.

Serial killer Yousef Palani has attacked a prison officer in Portlaoise jail and will now be controlled by controversial barrier handling while moving about the prison.Palani, who came to Ireland from Iraq, murdered two men and attacked another during a killing spree spurred by his hatred of homosexuality.Nicola speaks with Niall Donald about Palani and the crimes that mean he has been locked up for life.

Taxi driver Raymond Shorten is to be sentenced after his conviction for rape and anal rape of two women who he picked up while they were drunk and attacked them in his car.The predatory behaviour of Shorten saw him trawl nightclubs looking for drunk women and even go out of his way to pull up as they stumbled along pavements trying to ring for lifts home.Now his brave daughter Nikita has taken to social media to denounce her father’s actions and to support the women who gave evidence against him.Nicola speaks to Niall Donald about every parents worst nightmare.

Supergrass Raffaele Imperiale has been speaking with Dutch police in relation to his former associate El Rico and what he claims are his links to a murderous underworld feud, leaked documents show.The Camorra Mafiosa who was arrested in Dubai and returned to Italy two years ago turned state witness as he faced a lengthy time in jail.The one time member of the European Super Cartel has also told Dutch police that Daniel Kinahan refused to sanction a murder plot in Dubai which has been his safe haven since 2016.Nicola speaks to Niall Donald about the sensational leaks from the confessions of the underworld informant.