Copyright irishmirror
The wife of an alleged Moldovan crime boss - who was once charged in connection with a €1m cannabis seizure that was later dropped - is now teaching fitness classes in Barcelona, we can reveal. This comes after the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) seized the couple, Eduard and Natalia Chiper’s luxury €1m home in Co Louth. CAB officers and gardaí moved in on the lavish property, known locally as The White House, at Tullyard, Ballymakenny, on Tuesday, December 17, 2024 and took formal possession of it as part of the Bureau’s long-running case against Eduard and Natalia Chiper. The glamorous couple, who enjoyed a jet-set lifestyle with holidays in Spain, Canada, Miami, Euro Disney and Iceland between 2017 and 2019, agreed in October 2024 to settle their case with CAB, allowing the agency to seize the mansion and other assets. Eduard Chiper (49) has been described by CAB and other European law-enforcement agencies as the Irish-based head of a “transnational organised crime group suspected of trafficking controlled drugs and firearms throughout Europe and Russia.” His wife Natalia (43), has now based herself in Barcelona and running fitness and wellbeing classes, was a director of the couple’s painting and decorating firm, KED Decor Ltd, which CAB investigators believe was used to launder money and provide cover employment for members of the organised-crime group. Images on Natalia’s social media account show how she has now dyed her blonde hair black and is advertising her fitness classes in the Spanish city. It is not known if Eduard has joined her in Barcelona or is still in Ireland. The couple, who moved from Moldova to Ireland in the early 2000s, had previously faced criminal charges after a major cannabis haul worth €1m was discovered in a garage linked to their home. The case was later dropped by the DPP after it emerged that other people had access to the garage. In sworn affidavits, CAB officers stated that the pair’s declared income from KED Decor was modest and that the €200,000 they claimed to have used to buy their Ballymakenny property in 2014 originated from a Moldovan bank account belonging to Natalia’s father, Timofei Marcu. “It is my belief that the origin of the funds are derived from the proceeds of criminal activity, namely the trafficking of controlled drugs and firearms,” a senior CAB officer stated in an affidavit. The luxurious two-storey home, complete with tennis court, marble interiors, chandeliers, decorative ceilings, a digital grand piano and a gold sink pedestal, was valued at around €1m. It was sold by auction for the knock-down price of €649,000 following an online bidding war between four bidders. Eduard, a former medical student, told investigators in affidavits he could not afford accreditation fees to practise in Ireland and instead worked as a painter and decorator. Natalia, who studied accountancy in Moldova, admitted her father bribed a university official to obtain her qualification and described herself as “bad with numbers.” The CAB maintains that Eduard engaged in large-scale money laundering to hide the proceeds of criminal activity, with Natalia acting as a “willing accomplice.” Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here .
