A 60 year-old man arrested during a high-profile police operation into suspected INLA activities was using extortion to collect up to "£550 per week" from five Co Antrim construction companies.
Brian Gillan, from Lurgan Road, Glenavy, is also accused of being "the front man" for a south Belfast brothel, which Belfast High Court heard yesterday netted him a further £500 a month.
Mr Gillan, who is charged with blackmail, possessing criminal property and brothel keeping, appeared before Sir Anthony Hart yesterday to apply for bail.
When arrested on April 13 by the PSNI Paramilitary Crime Task Force, Mr Gillan had "£100 in £20 notes folded in his pocket alongside a sealed brown envelope that also contained money - £600 sterling and 160 euro".
A further £500 in cash was found during a follow-up search of his home.
He had visited two building sites on the day he was arrested and police surveillance between September 2017 and April 2018 has linked him to five in total - all in the Crumlin and Glenavy area.
Sir Anthony was told that the sites were "blackmailed to pay money under the guise of protection money (and) failure to pay money results in sites being damaged and property being stolen".
Mr Gillan, who the court heard collects disability benefits, had placed a £2,000 deposit on a £15,000 vehicle and was planning an extension on his home.
Romanian nationals Florin Ghita (32) and Teodora-Christina Musa (22), who were also arrested that day, are charged with keeping or assisting in the management of a brothel between October 1, 2017 and April 13, 2018.
The court heard that Mr Gillan had "secured a short term lease" for a property in Agincourt Avenue for £500 a month, for which he collected £1,000 a month from Ms Musa, described in court as a "Romanian prostitute"
It was at this terrace house that "a number of females located around the property" were found during the police raid last month.
While he initially denied any link to the property, "keys to the premises were located in his car and (there are) pictures of him at the property getting work done by builders".
The prosecution case is that Mr Gillen "sourced the property for Ms Musa and was the front man for the external part of the brothel".
The court heard that the grandfather claims to have been "extremely surprised and shocked" when police revealed during interrogation that Ms Musa and Mr Ghita were "in a relationship" because "he was in a relationship with (the 22-year-old) for more than a year" and believed the latter was her cousin.
He maintains that a picture of the trio during a fortnight's holiday he took in Romania in July 2017 and text messages on his mobile phone will support his claims and he had no knowledge of any other women living in the house.
Mr Gillen further contends that, having bought his own home for £350,000 in 2008 at the height of the property boom, there is still a £90,000 mortgage to be cleared.
Bail was denied.
