Couple claim unaccounted-for €8,800 cash was from 'the kindness of strangers'

Cork District Court heard gardaí were concerned about the source of €8,800.

A Romanian husband and wife allegedly living on the streets of Cork without welfare or employment, and transferring €8,800 in cash home over the course of two months, were remanded in custody for a fortnight.

The couple insisted they were sleeping rough outside a church and that the money they sent home came from the kindness of strangers.

Gardaí objected to bail earlier this week. 

Detective Garda Aoife Hayes said gardaí believed the couple were living at an address for which they had a key but they would not reveal it. 

The detective also expressed concern about the source of the transferred cash.

Judge Olann Kelleher remanded them in custody until April 14.

Detective Garda Hayes alleged that the €8,800 was transferred and that receipts to this amount were stored on the couple’s shared phone.

She arrested Gheorghe Marginica, 29, and Michele Judele, 30, of no fixed address, on Saturday, March 27, and brought them before Cork District Court, each of them charged with stealing €60 in cash from a student at an ATM on St Patrick’s Street, Cork, on Saturday, March 27.

Deny the charge

Defence solicitor Daithí Ó Donnabháin said they both deny the charge.

Det Garda Hayes said a key was found on the young man and gardaí believed it was for an address but that the defendant was not disclosing the address.

The detective said gardaí had checked with the Simon Community and found they had determined that neither of the defendants was in need of accommodation from Simon. They could not find any indication of them sleeping on the street.

“Initial assessment of this mobile phone shows a large amount of pictures of money receipts – 15 in total – sent back to [their] home country of Romania to a total of €8,800. And the money was transferred between February 17 2021 and March 24 2021,” the detective said.

She added that the allegation is that they approached a student asking for money. 

Fear and intimidation

"He said he did not have change. They persisted. They asked him for €33 for a bus to Dublin. This boy complied from fear and intimidation. He gave them €40. They said they wanted to buy another ticket. He could only get €20. He said he complied out of fear and intimidation,” the detective said.

“When asked where they got €8,800, that they had sent home, they said they got it from people helping them. It is our belief they got it from circumstances similar to those alleged in the charge before the court," she added.