Dublin: The Director of Public Prosecutions has authorised the Garda Anti-Corruption Unit to proceed with prosecutions against four members of the Garda Síochána and a civilian allegedly implicated in the shake-down scandal involving foreign delivery drivers.
If convicted in this case, the accused could face up to five years’ imprisonment. Each of the five individuals will appear in court separately later this month.
The four Garda members involved in the case have been under suspension for over a year, a development that has cast a shadow of disgrace over the entire force. Initially, there was widespread attention surrounding the incident, fueled by suspicions of impersonation within the Garda ranks. However, subsequent investigations revealed that the accused were indeed serving Garda officers.
The case stems from complaints of extortion lodged by Brazilian delivery drivers, dating back to 2021. Allegations were directed towards members of the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) Garda Unit.
The initial complaint, filed in September 2021 by a female Deliveroo employee, detailed an incident where two individuals, purporting to be Garda officers, conducted a search of her residence under the guise of possessing a warrant, subsequently absconding with money. Following this, identikits of the alleged perpetrators were circulated, only for it to emerge later that both individuals were indeed serving Gardaí. Subsequent criminal investigations led to the suspension of the implicated officers, with three more suspensions following suit by the end of 2022. Concurrently, a civilian became a co-accused in the case.
In March of the current year, all four individuals were found guilty and subsequently arrested. Prior to this, they had been suspended pending an investigation. The decision to proceed with charges against them has now been made.
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