‘BMW BEGGARS’ TARGET TOWNS

Scammers exploit homelessness crisis by posing as down-and-outs

HIGHLY organised professional beggars are posing as homeless people and duping the public into giving them money even though they are driving around in BMWs.

Gardaí and councillors in Cork and Kerry have issued a warning about the scammers in their areas.

In one astonishing Garda swoop, a woman who was part of the highly organised outfit was found driving a BMW and in possession of €600 in cash.

In a targeted operation in Killarney, gardaí observed a group driving into the cathedral car park and spreading out to key tourist and shopping areas of the town. There, they claimed to be homeless and managed to scam unsuspecting members of the public out of money.

Gardaí have observed the group on a number of occasions throwing food

donated by the public into bins. The con artists have also refused offers of accommodation by homeless services.

The appeal by councillors in Kerry not to contribute to the beggars arose after a private briefing by gardaí.

It follows a public appeal by Killarney gardaí to ask the public there not to hand over any cash in the area to strangers.

The beggars, who are Romanian, are arriving from north county Cork and are targeting Cork city as well as Killarney and Tralee, councillors were told.

Some sleep overnight near the social welfare offices on Edward Street in Tralee, pretending to be homeless.

One woman searched by gardaí who had been claiming to be homeless while begging near a business was found to have between €500 and €600 in cash and was driving a BMW.

Tralee Sinn Féin councillor Pa Daly said these people were ‘not genuinely homeless’ and were exploiting the public’s kindness.

‘As well as that, they are doing a disservice to the homeless unit of Kerry County Council, which is doing excellent work. They are undermining the work of the homeless services in the eyes of the public,’ Mr Daly said.

He appealed directly to Tralee and Killarney people: ‘Don’t support them. They are not homeless. They are making money.’

Mr Daly said the public were sometimes upset to see gardaí move people along after they had set up alongside shop entrances, but the gardaí had very good reason as they were not genuine.

He also felt the professional beggars were taking advantage of the public upset at the homelessness crisis and exploiting it.

In a targeted operation last summer, Killarney gardaí found the professionals were arriving together into the cathedral car park and setting up at key spots in the tourist town. Gardaí warned they will clamp down on the racket if it resumes.

Last month, a Romanian beggar who claimed to be homeless was arrested at Dublin Airport after flying in from England.

She left Ireland after she and a co-accused were charged with robbing from an 85-year-old man while begging door-to-door in Crumlin on the week before Christmas in 2015. The pair allegedly claimed they needed money to feed their children and to buy them Christmas presents.

When the man went into his kitchen to get money for them from a canister, they allegedly emptied the canister and ran off with several hundred euro of his savings. A neighbour spotted them and they were arrested.

It emerged that the woman had been living in Clonsilla before leaving the country and had left her children in the care of her inlaws. A Garda source familiar with her case said that the wider Romanian community is concerned about the reputational damage fake begging can cause.

‘It was actually a Romanianborn garda who was in the interview room when the two women were talking about [what] happened. They had no idea she could speak Romanian. The vast majority of the community don’t want begging here because they are here to work,’ he said.

He said gardaí find the situation very frustrating because they cannot deport those convicted because Romania is a European Union country.

‘You are talking about highly organised gangs who know how to use EU law and drag out the process,’ he said.

In 2011, the BBC’s Panorama ran an investigation into Romanian begging gangs, showing that those at the bottom are exploited while millions of euro moves up the system to crime bosses.

Its exposé followed the money trail back to Romania and found the crime bosses were living in giant mansions, with one boss found to have a BMW X5.

‘They know how to use EU law’