Three men remanded in custody after gardaí seize €1.28m in cash

Tom Tuite

Three men arrested after gardaí seized €1.28 million in suspected crime earnings in south Dublin this week have been remanded in custody.

Chinese national Kwan Wang (36), who lives in Hong Kong, Vladislavs Temmis (54), a Russian speaker from Latvia and 47-year-old Ik Joo Kang, from South Korea, appeared before Judge Stephanie Coggans at Dublin District Court on Saturday. All three held off on moving bail applications.

The arrests were part of an operation targeting an organised crime group. Gardaí with the Dublin Crime Response Team stopped and searched a car in Donnybrook, Dublin 4, on Thursday, where they found €197,760 and arrested one man.

During follow-up searches in south Dublin, gardaí seized an additional €1,086,175 in cash, bringing the total amount of money recovered in this investigation to €1,283,935.

Each defendant faces two counts under section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 for possessing proceeds of criminal conduct, which carries a maximum 14-year sentence.

Mr Temmis allegedly had €197,760 at Donnybrook Road, Dublin 4, and a further €27,500 at an address on Brewery Road, Stillorgan, in south Dublin.

His two co-defendants are also accused of having the €197,760, but it is alleged they possessed it in a 2025-registered motor vehicle at Donnybrook Road.

According to the charge sheets, Mr Kang and Wang also had €1,058,675 in a Dublin 2 hotel room.

The three men, who do not have stated addresses in Ireland, were dealt with separately and listened to the proceedings with the aid of interpreters. They spoke only to communicate with their legal representatives.

Gardaí Sean Tyrell and Karl Byrne said Mr Wang and Mr Temmis made no reply when charged.

However, Mr Kang’s response was “Yes, I will not accept this”.

Solicitor Andrew Walsh said his Hong Kong-based client was not making a bail application at this stage but would give gardaí 48 hours’ notice if an application is going to be made. Following a recess to take instructions, barrister Kevin McCrave confirmed that his clients would also defer their applications.

The court adjourned ruling on requests to grant free legal aid to the trio after Garda Tyrell pointed out that Mr Wang was wearing a jacket believed to be worth €500.

They were remanded in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court next week, Mr Kang and Temmis on Tuesday and their co-defendant the following day.

Judge Coggans also ordered that interpreters be available to assist at their next hearings.