Slovak national told repay €409 loan

A JUDGE has ordered a Slovak national repay a debt of €409 to a person he claimed had been a moneylender.

A Garda investigation determined an Ennis resident, who lent the money to the man, was not an illegal moneylender.

At Shannon District Court yesterday, Inspector Tom Kennedy said a Garda inquiry concluded Newton Augele, of Fergus Manor, Ennis was not a moneylender and that the €409 he lent to Slovak national Jozef Makuna was a personal arrangement.

Mr Augele was bringing a civil action against Makuna over an unpaid loan of €409.

The court heard Mr Augele drew up a contract for the loan, downloaded from the internet in Romanian which neither of the men understood.

Mr Augele said he Googled the contract and used the search engine’s translation service to translate the document.

Makuna admitted he signed the contract despite not being able to understand it. Asked by Judge Joseph Mangan why he signed the contract without understanding what was in it, Makuna said: “I needed the money.”

Judge Mangan issued a decree for Makuna to pay the €409 and awarded Mr Augele costs.