Two men who were caught red handed in what a Circuit Court Judge described as a 'singularly determined, professionally organised escapade' to counterfeit credit cards, have been jailed for five years with no leave to appeal.
Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said it was solid, professional policework that had caught Mohammed Khaleed and Mohammed Majid and he singled out Detective Garda John McDonagh for particular praise.
A bench warrant has been issued for a third man, Ali Raza, who absconded during the trial.
Over the course of the three-week trial, the jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard how 25-year-old Khaleed, 37-year-old Majid and 48-year-old Raza, all with addresses in London, flew into Cork on Friday 3 June for the bank holiday weekend.
That evening, gardaí stopped a jeep at Wilton and found a small amount of cannabis on the driver.
Returning to his rented house at Elmvale Avenue, they discovered four men involved in what was described in court today as a credit card counterfeiting operation in full flow.
Gardaí confiscated computer and skimming equipment, 87 credit cards and enough data to make a total of 450 cards.
The court was told the details were skimmed mainly from an ATM at a bank in Nottingham.
Gardaí believed they had deliberately came to Ireland on a bank holiday weekend to frustrate authorities here and in the UK and to maximise their gain.
Last evening a jury found both men, and Raza in his absense, guilty on all 16 charges.
In sentencing Judge Ó Donnabháin said the two, who both had previous convictions, had not shown any remorse during the trial.
He accepted both men had family responsibilities in London and imprisonment in Ireland would cause them huge difficulties but this was criminality of the highest order.
He also said they used family and other contacts here and in England to bring their escapade to a head.
