A MAN IS due in court this morning charged in connection with an alleged bogus legal firm offering immigration services to people subject to immigration law in Ireland.
The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) carried out searches in the Blessington area of Co Wicklow on Tuesday as part of an ongoing investigation into an allegation of the bogus legal firm.
During the course of these searches, a significant number of files and computers were seized.
Gardaí discovered that, in many cases, the victims of this bogus legal firm were people desperate to regularise their status in this jurisdiction.
These people paid significant fees (between €1,000 and €3,000 in many cases) to the firm in the belief that they had the legal expertise to address their immigration status.
Approximately €60,000 has been frozen in a bank account as a result of the investigation.
A man was arrested and detained at Naas Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.
He has since been charged to appear before Naas District Court this morning.
“We are concerned that people in vulnerable positions are being taken advantage by fraudsters,” Detective Chief Superintendent Pat Lordan of the GNECB said.
“We are advising persons seeking legal advice on immigration services or otherwise to check to ensure the person or persons they are dealing with have the appropriate qualifications and experience to provide such services,” he said.
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