AN INTERNATIONAL criminal organisation organised a mobile telephone fraud operated by an Eritrean businessman and an Italian solicitor from a city centre apartment, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has been told.
The fraud cost Telecom Eireann almost £30,000 in payments and in VAT charges to foreign phone companies for calls routed illegally through the criminal operation. Italian authorities found links between the Irish operation and a major investigation being carried out by them, according to the Garda.
Judge Cyril Kelly ordered the immediate deportation to Italy of "the Eritrean national, Zemhret Zem. The court heard that Italian authorities wanted his help in their investigation. He also has Italian and Canadian passports.
Zeru (33) and Enrico Bartolomucci (49) both pleaded guilty to using electronic equipment to de fraud Telecom Eireann at Bachelors Walk, Dublin, on January 27th 1996
Judge Kelly imposed suspended sentences of 2V2 years on them. They have been in custody since the date of the offence. Zeru is to remain in custody until arrangements for his deportation to Italy are made.
Judge Kelly also praised Det Sgt Michael Clifford for the officer s "marvellous job" in presenting evidence of what was a very complex case. He noted that all the counsel agreed that the case could have lasted up to IS weeks if it had gone to full trial by jury.
Mr George Birmingham, defending, said Bartolomucci was on the waiting list for a kidney transplant in England. He was in very bad health and it would be in the public interest to allow him to leave Ireland.
Det Sgt Clifford told Mr Shane Murphy, prosecuting, that Zeru came to Dublin from Rome and rented a luxury apartment in Bachelors' Walk as a base. Bartolomucci was offered £1,000 to bring in the sophisticated equipment used and to set it up. He came in from London.
Det Sgt Clifford wouldn't accept the suggestion of Mr Patrick Marrinan, defending Zeru, that the men were "mere foot soldiers" but agreed they were not the prime movers. They acted to instructions.
He said international calls were routed through the Dublin base from England. These calls were charged to unsuspecting Eircell 088 analogue customers through the process known as cloning.
Det Sgt Clifford explained that confidential details such as the electronic serial number and the phone number of genuine mobile phone customers were found through the use of scanning equipment which was available generally.
This information was fed into a computer which was connected to an electronic switchboard. When gardai raided the Bachelors' Walk apartment they found 24 mobile phones connected up to the system and in use.
Det Sgt Clifford said this fraud came to light after a complaint was made by an Eircell 088 customer who could not access his phone. Other complaints arose at the same time and an investigation led gardai and Telecom officials to the Bachelor's Walk apartment.
Before entrance was gained Bartolomucci could be heard attempting to throw electronic equipment out a window. Gardai and Telecom Eireann engineers discovered the confidential details of 500 customers in the 088 analogue system on the computer.
The effect of the fraud was that the mobile phone numbers cloned by the criminals had a dual use but the bill would be sent to the genuine customer.
Det Sgt Cliford agreed with Mr Marrinan that Zeru had specifically asked to speak to Italian investigators who visited Dublin after the men's arrest. Zeru left Eirtrean when he was 18 years old due to the civil war there. He went first to Italy, then to Canada for a time and returned again to Italy.
Mr Birmingham said, Bartolomucci was formerly a successful lawyer in Naples.