TWO MEN WHO face multiple charges in connection with human trafficking and money laundering have appeared in court in Cork where they were remanded in custody with consent to bail.

Marian Vavrek, 46, of 5 Kontiki, Rooskey, Co Roscommon and Ladislav Bubencik, 32 of Railway Road, Charleville, Co Cork appeared before Judge John King at Midleton District Court.

Ladislav Bubencik faces three counts of human trafficking and 20 counts of money laundering while Mr Vavrek faces three counts of human trafficking and one count of money laundering. Both men are originally from Slovakia but have been resident in Ireland for several years.

Prosecuting Sgt. Linda O’Leary said that instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on how to proceed were still awaited. In both cases she said that the State was objecting to the men being released on bail.

Det. Sgt. Alan Lynch who is attached to the Human Trafficking Investigation and Co-ordination Unit at Garda National Protective Services Bureau told the court that he had been assisting gardaí in Cork in relation to the accused. He said that it was alleged that the accused were part of a criminal gang that brought vulnerable people from Slovakia to Ireland and exploited their labour.

He told the court that such gangs operate by bringing people to Ireland, keeping them isolated and exploiting their work for their own personal gain. He said that human trafficking was supported by the “three pillars” of mobilisation, means and exploitation which he said was evident in the cases before the court.

In the case of Marian Vavrek Det. Sgt. Kevin McCarthy gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. He outlined the case against Mr Vavrek and said that there were three alleged injured parties who had given statements.

He said that CCTV footage showed Mr Vavrek collecting people from Dublin Airport and also using bank cards at ATMs that were not his own.

He objected to bail based on the grounds that the accused was likely to continue to commit alleged offences, the seriousness of the charges he was facing and that he would allegedly intimidate witnesses. The court heard that Mr Vavrek had 57 previous convictions, 48 of which were committed in Ireland the majority of which were road traffic offences.

Mr Vavrek’s solicitor Denis Linehan said that because the alleged injured parties were no longer residing in the country it was “not practical” to consider that Mr Vavrek could intimidate them. He added that the money laundering charge his client faced was in respect of €219 which he said was a “minute amount”.

He said that his client had denied all the charges put to him. He said that the prosecution were attaching “too much significance to the fact that he collected somebody from the airport.”

In the case of Ladislav Bubencik, Det. Garda Shane O’Donoghue gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. He was also charged with the human trafficking of three named individuals and also with 20 counts of money laundering. He denied all of the charges put to him and gardaí also objected to bail on the grounds that the accused was likely to continue to commit alleged offences, the seriousness of the charges he was facing and that he would allegedly intimidate witnesses.

The court heard that he had five previous convictions, all road traffic-related.

Mr Bubencik’s solicitor Charles O’Connor said that his client had been living at the same address in Charleville for 10 years. He said that he was married and that all of his family with the exception of his grandmother were living in Ireland. He said that his children were attending the local primary school and that Mr Bubencik had no relevant previous convictions.

In the case of Marian Vavrek Judge John King said that the charges were very serious but the evidence before him essentially rested on three statements. He said that the social media and CCTV evidence had been referred to but not put before him. He added that on that basis he had some concerns about the strength of the evidence.

He remanded Mr Vavrek in custody with consent to bail on his own bond of €600, no cash required. An independent surety cash lodgement of €20,000 was also required. The said surety is to be approved by the district court.

If bail is granted Mr Vavrek must reside at an address to be furnished to gardaí at least 24 hours prior to taking up the bail bond and to be approved by them.

He must sign on at a garda station to be approved twice daily from 9am to 1pm and from 2pm to 9pm. He must also surrender his passport and any other travel documents to gardaí and agree not to apply for any replacements. He was also ordered to furnish gardaí with his mobile phone number, to have it turned on, kept charged and in credit and to answer any calls from gardaí.

He was also ordered to have no contact whatsoever, direct or indirect with the alleged injured parties.

He was remanded in custody with consent to bail to appear before Mallow District Court by video link on Tuesday, 12 March 2024 to receive instructions from the DPP.

Ladislav Bubencik was remanded in custody with consent to bail on the same conditions except the address was specified as Railway Road, Charleville and the garda station was specified as Mallow Garda Station. He is also due to appear by video link at Mallow District Court on Tuesday, 12 March.