GERRY 'the Monk' Hutch set up a real estate business in Spain just 10 months after the Regency Hotel attack - as he put in place a plan to leave Ireland for good,l.
Records state that Hutch set up a 'foreign sole proprietorship' with the Spanish Companies' Office (Registro Mercantil) in the name of 'Gerard Hutch' on January 1, 2017.
Hutch listed the primary function of the 'Del Boy' style business, which effectively saw him register to operate as a sole trader, as 'management of real estate on a fee or contract basis.'
An official report obtained by the Sunday World this week lists the business as 'active.'
As part of the documents of incorporation, Hutch also supplied a CIF number - a tax ID for the business which also serves as a Spanish VAT number - meaning he was registered to pay taxes in Spain in his own name.
The documents also identify additional areas of real estate in which The Monk proposed to become involved.
These included "services related to real estate and industrial property" and "real estate activities."
Hutch has long been rumoured to have extensive property interests across Europe.
It was previously reported that he has interests in Spain, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, the UK and Ireland, worth millions.
These include his family home in Clontarf on Dublin's northside, believed to be worth almost €1m, an extensive property portfolio in Izmir and Kusadasi in Turkey and a number of residential developments in Bulgaria and Hungary.
It is also believed he is also the silent partner in several businesses in Ireland, both in the pub and auto trade.
It was previously reported that he has interests in Spain, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, the UK and Ireland, worth millions.
These include his family home in Clontarf on Dublin's northside, believed to be worth almost €1m, an extensive property portfolio in Izmir and Kusadasi in Turkey and a number of residential developments in Bulgaria and Hungary.
It is also believed he is also the silent partner in several businesses in Ireland, both in the pub and auto trade.
The business address was listed as located at Calle Pluton in Tias, Lanzarote.
Hutch lived on the Spanish holiday island and became a regular in a number of local pubs there from 2017 up until his flight to Malaga in March of this year.
The existence of the business and incorporation documents bolster claims by Hutch, made during his extradition hearing in Spain, that he was not hiding from the authorities while living in Spain and was even paying taxes in his own name.
Hutch, who was last month extradited back to Ireland to face a charge of the murder of David Byrne, asked the Spanish extradition court that he be allowed to serve out any sentence handed down here in Spain as he has residency status and pays his taxes there.
Hutch is currently being held under a "protection regime" in the high security 3G wing of Wheatfield Prison as he awaits trial before the Special Criminal Court for the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel on February 5, 2016.
He shares the jail wing, which has sometimes been referred to as the 'Hutch landing' with two other men who are also facing serious charges in relation to the Regency Hotel killing.
They are Jonathan Dowdall (43), who is charged with the murder of David Byrne and Jonathan's dad Patrick (64), who is alleged to have had knowledge of a criminal gang and helping it carry out the murder of David Byrne by making a room available at the Regency Hotel to its members on February 4, 2016.
Earlier this week, Hutch initiated legal proceedings aimed at having his trial moved from the non-jury Special Criminal Court to a court where the matter would be heard before a judge and jury.
Last month the DPP certified that the ordinary courts were inadequate to secure the administration of justice in Hutch's case.
But in judicial review proceedings, Hutch is to claim that he has a constitutional right to have his trial heard by a judge and jury.
The Monk is also set to argue that the Special Criminal Court was set up as an emergency measure half a century ago to deal with paramilitaries and should no longer be in operation as the emergency no longer exists.
Over the past 10 years, the non-jury court has been used more frequently to hear trials relating to serious organised crime, including the gang dispute in Limerick and the Hutch/Kinahan feud which claimed up to 18 lives.
Gerry Hutch is being represented in the proceedings by Dublin legal firm Ferry's Solicitors and an application for leave to bring the challenge is due to be heard by the High Court tomorrow.
Hutch will argue the Oireachtas has failed to enact specific legislation regarding the use of non-jury trials and has instead just opted to renew emergency measures first introduced in 1972.
He is expected to point to the fact that specific legislation has existed in Northern Ireland to deal with non-jury trials since 2007, containing various safeguards for accused persons and setting out the particular circumstances in which a non-jury trial can be permitted.
The case is similar to one already being taken by former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall, also accused of the murder of David Byrne.