Four gardai are to be charged over a major corruption probe, it has emerged tonight.
The Irish Mirror can exclusively reveal that a sergeant and three gardaí are to appear in court later this month over an alleged shakedown scam on foreign delivery drivers.
The four – who have been suspended for more than a year – are now facing serious charges that could see them jailed for up to five years if convicted, in an investigation that has rocked the force.
The Irish Mirror has established that the Garda Anti Corruption Unit has been given the go ahead by the Director of Public Prosecutions to prosecute the four officers – as well as a civilian, who is alleged to have also been part of the scam.
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We can reveal that the five suspects will appear in court on separate days later this month.
Sources have told us that the investigation has been running since 2021 – but took a dramatic turn in recent days with the decision to charge all five suspects.
The investigation is into claims that former members of a Garda unit in the Dublin area – called the DMR in the force – were extorting money from mostly Brazilian delivery drivers.
The officers were initially suspended over the probe, before being arrested last March – and now the decision has been made to charge them.
The investigation stems from an alleged incident in September 2021 in which a female Deliveroo worker alleged that two men claiming to be gardai searched her.
During the alleged incident, the woman said the two men searched her property, saying that they had a warrant.
The woman later made a complaint saying an amount of money had been stolen.
An investigation was launched and an evo-fit of the two suspects alleged to be impersonating gardai was circulated.
However it later emerged that both men were serving garda members – after one of them recognised himself from the evo-fit came forward to say he believed he was on a legitimate policing task at the time.
Gardai then began a criminal investigation into the incident and subsequently an experienced officer was suspended.
But at the end of 2022, the Anti Corruption Unit, or ACU, then searched a Dublin Garda station – and three more officers were suspended.
All four officers in the spotlight are now to be charged, sources have confirmed. And a civilian is also facing prosecution.
Gardaí this evening told us the investigation is ongoing.
A spokesman said: “There is no further update at this time.
“An Garda Síochána does not comment on ongoing criminal investigations or correspondence with the Director of Public Prosecutions.
“An Garda Síochána has previously confirmed that four members of An Garda Síochána are suspended from duty as part of an investigation into certain matters.”
However, several sources have confirmed to us that the decision has been made to charge the officers and the civilian.
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This story first appeared on Radio Today