Daniel Kinahan has said he fears he will be "jailed for life" in a podcast interview recorded from his prison cell in Dubai, ahead of his extradition to Ireland.
The 49-year-old, who is due to return to Dublin imminently after losing his final appeal against extradition from the United Arab Emirates, told podcaster James English that he believes he has already been convicted even though his trial has not begun.
Life sentence fears
In excerpts published on English's Instagram account on Friday, Kinahan said: "I think I have already got life in prison, James." He also claimed a deal had been made to speed up his return, saying: "I think there is a deal being done, you know."
He added: "I think we're going to go through the dance now and the circus and the character assassination even more now of me and my family."
Regency Hotel attack criticism
Kinahan also raised the absence of Gardaí at the Regency Airport Hotel in north Dublin in February 2016, when the Hutch gang attacked a boxing event in an attempt to murder him. The attack killed David Byrne and missed Kinahan by seconds. Gardaí have faced repeated criticism for not having officers at the scene, despite some media being present because they knew Kinahan would attend.
He said: "There are so many things that happened and there is so much dirty things that I think it is time to start to come out now. Regarding the Regency, it took over 20 minutes for them to respond, there was no police there."
"They talk about, I'm a big mafia boss and this imaginary cartel that they created and there is no police at the Regency when there is a publicised boxing event on there. There's four different reporters there, ready to take pictures. Police didn't respond, (they are) two minutes away and the police didn't respond for over 20 minutes."
He described the moment a gunman pulled a weapon on him: "I seen him actually pulling the gun from the back of his waist and just pulling his hand up and then I just ran through the door."
Scapegoat claim
Kinahan said he believes he has been scapegoated. "I believe I have not been an angel in my life and I don't think anyone has been an angel. The person who points the finger has three fingers pointing back at themselves. I don't want to play like I am a martyr and people believe he is innocent, he is a conspiracy theorist."
"But yeah, I believe in a way I am a scapegoat and anyone that looks into this so-called feud that they say they have created, then you will see, you will see things yourself if someone has the time to look into it."
Boxing ambitions
Before US sanctions were imposed on him, his father Christy and his brother Christopher, Kinahan had been trying to position himself as a powerbroker in boxing. He said he feels he could have benefited the sport.
"I think I would have done a lot of good for boxing because I was not in boxing to launder money as they say - I never did that whatsoever. I think I would have given a lot back to boxing and helped a lot of people, you know."
He also questioned why Irish media repeatedly describe him as a gang boss. "That is a question that I would like to know," he said.
Asked who the most interesting person he has met was, Kinahan replied: "I would say one of the most interesting people I spoke to, just for a short time, was (director) Guy Ritchie, without a doubt."
