This article is from page 73 of the 2008-02-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 73 JPG
THREE Romanian nationals have appeared in court charged in connec- tion with alleged criminal damage to a bank ATM in Shannon.
The two men and one woman were brought before Shannon District Court last Thursday where the men were remanded on custody and the woman was released on bail. One of the men is also wanted in Mullingar on foot of outstanding warrants.
The three were charged in connec- tion with an ongoing garda investiga-
tion into an alleged ATM skimming operation in Shannon, which could involve tens of thousands of euro.
Pavel Cirpaci (27) whose address is ‘unknown’ gave a false name to gardai when arrested. Garda Kieran Nash arrested the accused on Febru- ary 14, on foot of two warrants is- sued at Mullingar District Court in 2007. The accused told gardai that his name was Paul Negrea.
In evidence, Garda Martin Cham- bers of the Immigration Unit at Shan- non garda station said he carried out tests on an identification card which
the accused had in his possession and found it to be false.
He said he later established that the defendant’s name was Pavel Cirpaci and that he had arrived in Ireland in June 2005.
The court was told by the accused’s solicitor Steven Walsh that the de- fendant had voluntarily offered his real name at 12.45pm. While the garda confirmed this, Judge Joseph Mangan said that he was “not at all impressed that the defendant vol- unteered his real name at 12.45pm” more than an hour after court had
commenced.
Garda Nash also told the court the accused has had 13 bench previous bench warrants issued against him. While he also faces charges in Mull- ingar, he is charged with two counts of causing criminal damage to an ATM at Shannon Town Centre.
The second accused, Craciun Ca- vacio (23), claimed he lived at 21, Dominick Street, Dublin. However gardai could not confirm that the ac- cused lived there.
A third defendant, Ms Gabriella Lupo (20), also with an address in
Dublin and who was on bail from Gort District Court, gave evidence that Mr Cavacio lived at 21, Domin- ick St, Dublin, as he claimed. Asked by Inspector John Galvin how long he lived there, Ms Lupo said “a few rpetoyalee tne
When she was asked when Mr Ca- vacio left that address, she replied “December.”
Ms Lupo also faces one charge of criminal damage to an ATM ma- chine at Shannon Town Centre.
All three will re-appear in court later this month.