Six sent for trial in connection with international terrorism financing probe

ireland
Six Sent For Trial In Connection With International Terrorism Financing Probe
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Tom Tuite

Four men and two women arrested in Dublin for money laundering and international terrorism financing have been sent forward for trial on 200 charges.

It follows a probe by the Garda Special Detective Unit, which charged the six Uzbek and Irish nationals in September when the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) issued directions.

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The six defendants were served with books of evidence on Monday at Dublin District Court.

Truck driver Oybek Jabbarov, 45, is accused of 101 offences.

Atica Umat, 68, a mother of three; Fatime Jabbarov, 43, and Oybek Jabbarov, who live at Gravel Walk Court, Dublin 7; Muhammad Amin, 37, of Summer Street North, Dublin 1; and Abdurahim Mhadhbi, 25, and Dawood Mhadhbi, 22, both of Dodderbrook Terrace, Ballycullen, Dublin 24 were all charged with money laundering in connection with alleged offences in the 2010s.

Atica Umat, Oybek Jabbarov, and Muhammad Amin have other charges under the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 for collecting, receiving or providing funds for the benefit of a terrorist group.

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Mr Jabbarov alone is further accused of directing the activities of a criminal organisation from 2009 to 2019.

The six, on bail with conditions, appeared before Judge Bryan Smyth, who noted on Monday that the DPP had directed trial on indictment at a higher level.

He acceded to the State's request to grant a return for trial order and send them forward to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, where the case will be listed for mention on December 8th.

They were granted legal aid and told to notify the prosecution if they intended to use alibis in their defence. The judge also ordered gardaí to hand over interview videos to their lawyers.

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They had to surrender passports and were ordered not to apply for travel documents.

The defendants must notify gardaí of any address changes, provide contact phone numbers, sign on regularly at their local Garda station, and not transfer money abroad.

At a previous stage, Abdurahim Mhadhbi unsuccessfully pleaded via his solicitor to be allowed to continue sending money "capped" at €150 a week to his family in Uzbekistan.

They did not address the court, and the total sums involved in the allegations were not read out during the hearing.

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Judge Smyth heard that Atica Umat's responses to some of her charges were: "It's not terrorism, it's my son; he has four wives," or "To my son, my family," and "He is my son, his wives have children. "She made no reply to the rest of her 18 charges.

Fatime Jabbarov had 19 charges, and her replies included: "I sent it to my family, not terrorists".

Solicitor Donal Quigley, who represents Oybek Jabbarov and two others, said his clients were in their homes after their door was knocked in and urgently brought to court in September.

He said the case was about them "sending small amounts to the country they are from".

A State solicitor said a procedural delay resulted from the case's complexity and added that 250 statements and 400 exhibits had to be "distilled" into the books of evidence.

"While there are a lot of charges, the entire amount is not very large, around €5,000 a year over those years," Mr Quigley had told the court.

He said Mr Jabbarov had lived in Ireland for ten years.

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