SIU gardaí raid houses of suspected ‘broker’ trio
IMITATION firearms, smartphones and computers have been seized by gardaí as part of a major investigation into insurance ‘ghost brokers’.
The Irish Daily Mail can reveal that specialist officers raided two houses in Lucan on Wednesday and froze the bank accounts of two Eastern European men and a Russian national during the searches.
The trio, in their 30s, are part of a wider international criminal network, involved in ‘ghost brokering’, gardaí believe. The men are also involved in money laundering and mining for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, security sources reveal.
The Special Investigations Unit, attached to DMR Roads Policing Unit, Dublin Castle, carried out Wednesday’s raids as part of its ongoing investigation into ghost brokering activities.
Ghost brokers sell forged or invalid discounted insurance policies to unsuspecting consumers.
They usually advertise their services online or within local communities, typically claiming to be able to secure a cheap motor insurance policy. Sources reveal the three suspects have been ‘predominantly’ selling these fake insurance policies to other foreign nationals.
The suspects are behind ‘thousands’ of fake policies issued in Ireland over the past couple of years. The trio have been living in Ireland for a number of years. It is understood gardaí are liaising with Interpol and Europol over the suspects.
There is ‘some evidence’ the men are part of a major international criminal network involved in this lucrative fraud worldwide.
During the two house searches in Lucan, where the men live, a number of items were seized including smartphones, laptops, desktop computers, hard drives and two imitation guns, an imitation pistol and imitation assault rifle.
Three bank accounts belonging to the suspects were also frozen under Section 17(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2010 as amended.
No arrests have yet been made and the investigation is ongoing.
In September, gardaí carried out a number of searches relating to their investigation into insurance ‘ghost brokers’. Four people were arrested.
At the time, gardaí said its DMR Roads Policing Division had worked closely with insurance companies over the previous few months.
In January, it emerged up to 9,000 motor insurance policies were under investigation for being fraudulent.
If fraudulent, it would mean a possible cost of €23million to the insurance industry and a resulting hike in drivers’ premiums, SIU’s Garda George Thurlow told Aviva Insurance’s annual fraud conference in January.
‘When our unit comes across a ghost broker, we go after their funds and their assets,’ he said. ‘The thing that criminals care about is their wealth and the money they’ve made. Most of them don’t even care about going to prison – it’s their assets.’
‘We go after their funds and assets’