UDA boss shown the door after blowing €1.5m in gambling spree
TOP loyalist Andre Shoukri was thrown out of the Ulster Defence Association after squandering almost £1m (€1.5m) during a two-year gambling spree, it was claimed last night.
His brother Ihab and a third man, Alan McClean, also got the boot in an attempt to clean up the outlawed organisation’s act.
The purge on the UDA’s North Belfast command followed a major internal investigation into how the unit was being run.
With the Shoukris now attempting to establish a power-base in the city’s Westland estate, security chiefs were on alert last night for any new shooting war.
A violent feud erupted after a similar action was taken against Andre’s former mentor, Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair, four years ago.
Lavish
Resentment at the Shoukri brothers lavish lifestyle has intensified ever since their dramatic rise to power.
The designer clothes and swaggering attitude has rankled older, traditional loyalists.
The men were already thought to be on borrowed time when the staggering levels of Andre’s gambling addiction emerged earlier this year.
It was disclosed in court that the 29-year-old, nicknamed ‘the Egyptian’ because of his Coptic Christian father, blew £863,000 (€1.25m) of UDA money in one north Belfast bookmakers between April 2003 and last August.
“That really sealed his fate,” one loyalist source said.
Andre, who is in custody awaiting trial on blackmail, intimidation and money laundering charges, was part of a UDA delegation that held talks with former Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy in 2004. While he has been held Ihab (32) acted up as brigadier.
Even though a judge dropped charges of UDA membership against the older brother this month, few doubt either’s involvement.
It is understood both men were told last week they were being removed. The organisation’s inner council reached a unanimous verdict after its south east Antrim brigade, which had initially resisted, agreed to the move. Membership of that unit have now been instructed to begin a process of selection and election to replace those sacked.
Davy Nicholl of the Ulster Political Research Group, which advises the UDA, claimed expulsions were to protect their community from criminals.
Sinn Fein Assembly member Gerry Kelly said it did not matter who headed the UDA, the UVF and other loyalist organisations. They were more interested in what activities these groups were engaged in.
Alan Erwin
