American mobster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger’s fortune 'hidden in Birmingham', claims former CID detective

A leading American mobster, whose bloody booty is believed to remain hidden in a Birmingham safe deposit box, forged links with the IRA in our city.

James “Whitey” Bulger, dubbed The Last Shamrock Gangster, is alleged to have been a frequent visitor while on the run, cocooned within Irish communities. And while here, he is believed to have salted away cash, FBI documents on the underworld Mr Big has revealed.

He also brokered deals with the IRA, a former top ranking CID officer, who has asked to remain anonymous, believes. “That’s what leading criminals who had their heads screwed on did,” he said. “They invested money in the IRA. They’d want their cut, but they’d get you a very good return.”

Bulger revelled in the role of Irish patriot and former associate Patrick Nee described him as a man who “loved being associated with the IRA and the cause of Irish freedom”. Bulger was beyond a leading criminal. He lived violently and died violently. In 2018, the Boston hitman was beaten to death by inmates at Hazelton Penitentiary where he was serving two life sentences for racketeering and 11 murders.

The wheelchair bound 89-year-old had suffered mob torture. Attempts had been made to gouge out his eyes and slice off his tongue. Intriguingly, somewhere in Birmingham his legacy may remain. In an unknown safe place, cash, jewellery and a fake passport gather dust.

When I first probed the incredible story nine years ago, an official from the FBI’s London office admitted: “There were sightings of Bulger in the UK. The FBI cannot disclose where in the UK that was, but it is possible that was the Midlands.” I’ve been assured it was Birmingham and another retired detective claimed he knew where the cash had been placed. “I can give you the street,” he said.

This week, the former officer said: “The money would’ve been fed to the IRA – not because of any allegiance, but because it was a sound criminal investment.” To many in Boston’s Irish community, Bulger was a Robin Hood character who handed Thanksgiving turkeys to the needy and removed the cancer of drug dealing from streets.

But the Good Samaritan veneer was scraped clean at his 2013 trial. Bulger, head of the feared Winter Hill Gang, was exposed as a man who had built an empire on extortion, money laundering, drug dealing and murder.

As he was led from the dock, one member of the public mimicked firing a machine gun and shouted: “Rat-a-tat-tat, Whitey.” The outburst was an omen of what was to come. A fellow Mafia kingpin was accused of planning Bulger’s on-line execution.