TWO Romanian men have been remanded in custody after appearing before a special sitting of Letterkenny District Court on Thursday afternoon.

 

They are charged in connection with an operation led by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation in Dublin.

Three men were arrested on Tuesday when gardai raided a property in Glenoughty Close. According to the charges, inside they found a large amount of fraud paraphernalia as well as stolen and forged documents.

The two men before the court were Ioan Barbuc and Andrei Ciocan both with addresses at Glenoughty Close. A third man was released without charge.

Solicitor, Kieran O’Gorman acting for Barbuc and Barrister Sean MacAodha representing Ciocan both made applications for bail but these were objected to by gardai on a number of grounds. Having heard evidence from Detective Gardai Paulina Szramoska and Stephen Kelly, Judge Paul Kelly refused bail and adjourned matters until next Thursday’s sitting of Letterkenny District Court where both men are to appear via videolink from prison.

Ciocan has six charges against him. These include the handling of stolen property, to wit €1,100 in cash in a AIB bank account in Cabra in Dublin. He is also charged with possessing stolen property including a UK driving licence, as well as a false instrument to wit a Romanian identity card and Romanian driving licence in the name of other persons. He was also in possession of a false Romanian ID card and a stolen Irish passport and Public Services card.

Barbuc is charged with being possession of, at the house in Glenoughty Close, paper specifically adapted for the creation of false documents. He is also charged with possession of a stolen UK driving licence, stolen Irish passport and forged Romanian national ID card.