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An organized crime gang is the target of a massive operation after “a network of bank accounts” was discovered containing more than € 100,000 in fraudulent payments for pandemic unemployment.
Gardai said a total of 28 people attacked yesterday in two counties were “identified as active participants” in the fraud and armed officers were involved in yesterday’s raids.
The European legal agency Europol was also heavily involved in the investigation that began in May.
The gang are mainly Czechs and Slovaks, and many of those involved in obtaining fraudulent payments from PUPs are not even residents of Ireland.
Last night, high-level sources revealed that the Eastern European gang that was targeted yesterday as just one of several organized crime networks that are fraudulently obtaining PUPs.
“This is a huge problem at the national level and it is estimated that millions of euros have been looted in an organized way in the last eight months or so,” said a senior source.
“While this latest operation focused on Limerick and Clare, there are problems across the country.
“There will be more of these operations in the coming weeks,” added the source.
The puppy was released in March and is capped at 350 euros a week. On Tuesday, the Department of Social Protection said that 351,424 people will receive a normal PUP payment this week at a cost of 103.65 million euros.
It is understood that around 20,000 people have had their Pandemic Unemployment Payments interrupted after investigations by the Department of Social Protection.
All cases of suspected PUP fraud are investigated by the department’s special investigative unit, which includes 21 gardaí.
Yesterday gardai announced the details of the latest major operation.
“The investigation has identified a suspected international organized crime group comprising individuals based in Ireland and other jurisdictions who have engaged in identity crime and fraud to obtain money from PUPs,” said a spokesperson.
“Several searches were conducted in Limerick and Clare in connection with this research.
“This is a joint operation involving officials from the Department of Social Protection, Gardaí attached to the Department of Social Protection, Customs and Excise and Gardaí based in Limerick and Clare, including detectives, uniformed personnel, the Armed Support Unit and the Garda Dog Unit.
“Various items, including documentation and related material, have been seized and are currently being examined,” he explained.
While no arrests were made yesterday, Gardai arrested a man in his 30s when a house was raided in Mulhuddart, west of Dublin, in July.
That investigation is linked to up to 25 separate claims made under the scheme totaling more than € 56,000 at the time gardai raided the property.
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