Judge says suspected crime boss 'lied' to gardaí as he refuses bail ahead of extradition hearing

Suspected Romanian crime boss Ioan Anton is facing extradition to his homeland for allegedly creating an organised crime group which operated in Ireland

A man who featured in an RTÉ ‘Primetime Investigates’ programme about prostitution in 2012 “lied to gardaí” and was “less than frank” about his finances, according to a High Court judge who refused him bail today.

Suspected Romanian crime boss Ioan Anton (aged 43), with an address at Hamlet Lane, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, is facing extradition to his homeland for allegedly creating an organised crime group which operated in Ireland, blackmail, incitement to commit murder and incitement to commit robbery. He was previously on Europol’s most wanted list and faces up to life imprisonment in Romania, if convicted.

Anton was arrested by gardaí on foot of a European Arrest Warrant earlier this month and was refused bail by the High Court today ahead of extradition proceedings.

He featured in a 2012 RTÉ ‘Primetime Investigates’ programme about prostitution but in a subsequent challenge to the Minister for Social Protection’s decision to stop paying him job seeker’s allowance, which was settled outside court, Mr Anton denied any involvement in such activities.

Refusing bail in the High Court today, Mr Justice Paul Burns said he had received evidence from multiple gardaí about Anton’s alleged links to prostitution. However, the judge said he was not sure if the garda evidence amounted to anything, because Anton had never been convicted of any offence in that regard.

Anton was previously convicted of conspiring to blow up an ATM machine in Hamiltonsbawn, Co. Armagh, in 2018, for which he received a one-year sentence. Mr Justice Burns said there was a "big difference" between the sentence imposed in Northern Ireland and the sentence he was facing in Romania now.

Detective Garda Eoin Kane, of the garda extradition unit, objected to bail over the course of two days in the High Court, which involved hearing evidence from more than a dozen gardaí.

Today's ruling by the judge

Mr Justice Burns said he was satisfied that Anton was a “very significant flight risk” given the seriousness of the charges and the potential penalty he faced in Romania, if convicted.

The judge said he was satisfied that Anton had access to funds to flee the jurisdiction and to “establish a life somewhere else”.

Mr Justice Burns said evidence of Anton's "comings and goings" in the Republic were "difficult to follow". He moved to Ireland 20 years ago with his wife, and they continue to live here with their two sons.

Anton told gardaí at a Covid-19 checkpoint in May that he owned two car-wash businesses in Northern Ireland and one in the Republic. However, Anton’s instructions to his solicitor in these proceedings gave the impression that he was a man of limited means, the judge said.

Following his conviction in Northern Ireland for conspiring to blow up the ATM machine, Mr Justice Burns said UK authorities sought to have Anton deported to Romania. However, Anton "voluntarily deported himself" to Ireland, effectively to "frustrate" that process and to avoid being deported to Romania. It showed Anton’s determination "not to be returned to Romania”, the judge said.

Ioan Anton was previously convicted of conspiring to blow up an ATM machine in Hamiltonsbawn, Co. Armagh, in 2018

Mr Justice Burns said he was satisfied that Anton had "not been frank" with the High Court in respect of his finances and had “deliberately lied” to gardaí about not having travel documents.

Anton also had significant contact with people convicted of creating false documents, false identities and false bank accounts, the judge said.

Romanian authorities are seeking Mr Anton’s extradition to face trial in his homeland for the murder of Busa Virgil (aged 37) at Academy Square in Navan, Co Meath, on April 10, 2014. Gardaí suspended their investigation into Mr Busa’s death to allow Romanian authorities carry out their own enquiries. It is understood that most, if not all, of the witnesses in the case are in Romania.

Another Romanian national, Petronel Pal (aged 26), with an address at Briarwood Lawn in Mulhuddart, Dublin 15, has already been surrendered in relation to the same incident, although his pending extradition is currently before the Court of Appeal. Mr Pal is married to Mr Anton’s niece.

Mr Busa was viciously assaulted by a group of men before he jumped out of a first-floor window and died three days later from his injuries.