Welcome developments on the scourge of bogus callers

News that five people had been arrested yesterday morning (Tuesday) as part of an operation targeting a criminal gang involved in impersonating gardaí will be most welcome.

The Meath Chronicle has for months now being reporting on incidents across the county of men knocking at homeowners doors pretending to be members of An Garda Siochana.

The schtick they give the occupants has been fairly consistent. They claim they are investigating burglaries in the area where sums of cash have been stolen and are attempting to identify the owners of the cash, or counterfeit cash. They request to compare cash in their possession against cash held by the home owner and then proceed to take any cash from the home owner.

On the face of it, you think you'd smell a rat a mile off, but this is where the insidious and sinister nature of these callers kicks in. The targets are usually elderly homeowners, many living alone in rural and isolated areas. The fact the callers know this is terrifying in itself and shows some level of surveillance and premeditation.

It was heartening to see that more recently, perhaps through more coverage of incidents including by this newspaper, saw more homeowners give the callers short shrift but this morning's developments will be truly welcomed by all.

Officers from the Garda Eastern Region who are investigating the activities of the gang arrested two men in their 30s, a man in his 50s, another man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s.

“The five persons have been arrested on suspicion of offences contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 as amended and detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 at 5 separate garda stations across the Eastern Region,” a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, a number of searches are ongoing in three counties across the Dublin and Eastern Regions.

The investigation is led by a senior investigating officer based out of an incident room at Kilkenny Regional Headquarters.

Gardai revealed that they have been investigating the gang’s activities across 15 counties, including Meath, primarily in the east and the midlands, over the past 10 months.

Two such incidents occured in Oldcastle and Ballinlough areas last month and two more incidents were reported in the Kilbride area, near the Dublin border and Halltown, Navan, near Dunderry. Another incident was reported in Mountnugent, Co Cavan, in the same week.

In each of the incidents the men who called to the homes claimed to be gardai and showed what appeared to be a garda badge with a story asking if the homeowners were missing cash.

This morning, gardaí issued a reminder of previously issued crime prevention advice in relation to this type of bogus tradesmen callers.

The advice states that gardaí will not cold call to a house and request to check cash in this manner. Any garda member calling to your door will have identification. However, should you have any concerns about the person at the door, you should not answer the door even if they are purporting to be a Garda.

Genuine gardaí will always provide official details to allow you to confirm their identity with your local garda station and will be patient while you choose to so.

As further developments in this case are awaited let's at least hope that it sends out a signal to those intent on taking advantage of our most vulnerable members of of our communities that their actions will be thwarted and will not be tolerated.