Gardaí seized cash from card cloners

Over €4,000 seized from a credit card cloning gang in Cork six years went into the coffers of the State yesterday.

The seized cash totalling €4,465 was before Cork District Court yesterday, where Judge Olann Kelleher directed that it be forfeited to the State.

Det Garda Damien Moloney outlined the background to the cash seizure.

Gardaí investigating another crime followed a man to a house on Elmvale Avenue, Wilton, Cork, on Jun 3, 2006. Their suspicions were raised at the house and they believed illegal activity was taking place there.

In a follow-up visit they found what was described as a credit card cloning scam.

They found a bundle of Tesco Clubcards on the floor and other types of cards with magnetic strips, some of them blank cards.

The men were in the process of making credit cards when the house was raided.

Following a trial, three men were jailed at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. Two other men who were charged in relation to the crimes fled the jurisdiction.

Attempts were made to notify these two that the police property application would be going ahead at Cork District Court yesterday but these efforts failed.

Det Garda Moloney said of the two who absconded: “They have not come on the radar in the last six years. Our application is for the cash to be taken into state funds.”

The judge granted it.