Gardaí investigating a criminal gang involved in theft and fraud by impersonating members of An Garda Síochána have seized five vehicles, three Rolex watches, €3,000 in cash and various other items considered to be of “evidential value”.
Five people were arrested in connection with the operation which involved six searches in three counties across the Dublin and eastern region on Tuesday morning.
A man in his 60s, another man in his 50s, two men in their 30s and a female in her 50s were arrested under Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act and held at separate stations.
The operation was led from Kilkenny Regional Headquarters where detectives have been investigating the gang’s activities across 15 counties, primarily in the east and the midlands, over the past 10 months.
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Tuesday’s searches and arrests are being conducted by detectives from the Eastern Region and regional Armed Support Units.
“The theft/fraud involved members of the gang calling to rural homes, impersonating a member of An Garda Síochána, claiming they were investigating burglaries in the area where sums of cash had been stolen and that they were attempting to identify the owners of the cash, or counterfeit cash,” a statement from the gardaí outlined.
“They requested to compare cash in their possession against cash held by the homeowner and then proceed to take any cash from the homeowner.”
An Garda Síochána has previously issued crime prevention advice in relation to this type of bogus tradesmen callers and outlined that members of An Garda Síochána will not cold call to a house and request to check cash in this manner.
“An Garda Síochána wish to remind the public that any Garda member calling to your door will have identification. However, should you have any concerns about the person at the door, you should not answer the door even if they are purporting to be a Garda. Genuine Gardaí will always provide official details to allow you to confirm their identity with your local Garda station and will be patient while you choose to so.”
