The High Court has paved the way for the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) to seize over €530,000 held in an AIB account.

The court granted the order on the application of the CAB under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The application was not contested.

It followed an investigation conducted by CAB in conjunction with the FBI.

It related to a Canada-based company called Phantom Secure.

Vincent Ramos, the chief executive of Phantom Secure, pleaded guilty on October 2nd in the USA to leading a criminal enterprise that facilitated the international importation and distribution of drugs - through the sale and service of encrypted communication devices.

In his plea agreement, Mr Ramos admitted that he and his co-conspirators facilitated the distribution of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine to locations around the world.

This included the United States, Australia, Mexico, Canada, Thailand and Europe.

Image: Facebook/Criminal Assets Bureau

They supplied drug traffickers with Phantom Secure encrypted communications devices, designed to thwart law enforcement.

To keep the communications out of the reach of law enforcement, Mr Ramos and others maintained Phantom Secure servers in Panama and Hong Kong, used virtual proxy servers to disguise the physical location of its servers and remotely deleted or 'wiped' devices seized by law enforcement.

Mr Ramos and his co-conspirators required a personal reference from an existing client to obtain a Phantom Secure device.

And he used digital currencies, including Bitcoin, to facilitate financial transactions for Phantom Secure to protect users' anonymity and launder proceeds from Phantom Secure.

Mr Ramos admitted that at least 450 kilograms of cocaine were distributed using Phantom Secure devices.