MAN ‘MADE €1M POSING AS IMMIGRANTS LAWYER’
63-yr-old in court on deception raps
MORE than €11,000 worth of suspected crack cocaine was seized from a car by gardai yesterday morning.
They also found scales and a small quantity of suspected cannabis in the Carton Court area of Ballymun, Dublin.
A Garda spokesman said: “Members of the Ballymun Divisional Drugs Unit assisted by members from Santry carried out a surveillance and search operation at a property.
“Crack cocaine [pending analysis] worth €11,400 and weighing scales were discovered following the search of a car.”
A MAN who allegedly presented himself as a barrister providing legal services for potential immigrants appeared in court yesterday.
David Williams faces four allegations of deception under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act on dates between January 2019 and May 2020.
The offences are alleged to have taken place at business parks in Rathcoole, Co Dublin, and Blessington, Co Wicklow.
Det Gda Keith Gorman of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau gave evidence of arresting the 63-year-old defendant, who made no reply to any of the allegations after being cautioned.
He said the cases concerned the provision of legal services for immigrants to assist their status. Det Gda Gorman added fees of between €500 and €1,500 were charged and he said the total amount involved exceeds €1million.
Judge Desmond Zaidan sitting at Naas
District Court also heard there around 1,100 files to go through.
He added the State would consent to bail but with conditions including that
are the defendant must sign on daily between 9am and 9pm at Naas Garda station, provide the address he is residing at and a mobile phone number.
He must also not make contact with any parties involved in the case and must not present himself as a barrister or a solicitor.
The defendant has lived here for 30 years and was granted legal aid.
Sgt Brian Jacob said a six-month adjournment was needed because the case is “very complicated”.
Judge Zaidan granted bail to Williams of Sroughan, Lacken, Blessington, and adjourned the case until November 26 and the defendant was released on his own bond.