€18k in wired cash receipts found at brothel
The receipts were found in an apartment raided by gardaí in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
Two women appeared in court yesterday charged with operating a brothel at the apartment complex at Justice Walsh Rd on January 19.
Gardaí told Letterkenny District Court they found €600 in cash and Western Union money receipts for €18,000 which was sent to Romania over a three-week period after Christmas.
There was also a man found on the premises whom gardaí believed had paid for sex when they raided the premises at around 7.30pm.
The court heard that both women, Sirin Abdollah, 23 and Sefania Manea, 21, admitted to operating a brothel and advertising their services on a website.
Gardaí said they were satisfied that both women were not under pressure and were operating the brothel of their own free will.
Solicitor for the women, Patsy Gallagher, said the women had come to Ireland knowing that money was to be made through prostitution.
He said both women were sending money back to their families in Romania as they would only earn an average of €250 per month there.
Ms Abdollah has one child who is in private school in Romania and she has been sending money back to educate her, although her family did not know how she was making a living, said her solicitor.
Mr Gallagher said both women had given him an assurance that they would leave the country within 48 hours.
He asked if some cash from the €600 seized by gardaí in the apartment could be used for plane tickets for the women.
However, Judge Paul Kelly refused the request.
He said: “I am not doing that. This is the first time we have been given an indication of the type of money being sent back and it is substantial. Let them get on to their families in Romania and get the price of a ticket back.”
Judge Kelly also fined each women €250 and ordered that the seized cash be forfeited to the State.
