A 32-year-old man who organised prostitution, operated brothels and laundered hundreds of thousands of euro in three years, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
Stelian Ciuciu, from Brookdale Walk, Swords in Dublin, rented properties from unsuspecting landlords and offered them to escorts, charging them €1,000 a week.
He pleaded guilty to 20 charges including enhancing the ability of a criminal organisation, organising prostitution, brothel-keeping, using false instruments and money laundering.
The offences took place in various locations between January 2020 and November 2023.
Ciuciu and a woman, an escort who would pose as his partner, rented the properties.
He provided fake documents including fake Romanian identity documents and fake employer references.
Ciuciu used a WhatsApp group with 450 members to advertise the properties to escorts and was heavily engaged in the day-to-day upkeep of the premises.
He also advised the escorts to be discreet and not draw attention to themselves but was caught after some landlords suspected what was happening and contacted the gardaÃ.
His accomplice, referred to in court as ‘Ms N’, has since fled the country.
Detectives discovered that similar rental documents in different names with Ciuciu’s photograph had been used to rent out the apartments, and Ciuciu was identified and put under surveillance.
Gardaà followed him to a number of properties that were being used as brothels with two or more escorts working there.
He was also observed lodging cash in various banks and €320,000 was found in his accounts.
€11,000 in cash was also found in his home.
Detective Garda Colm Grogan from the Organised Prostitution Unit said the escorts would pay up to €1,000 a week per property.
Ciuciu was described in court as a stateless person of Roma origin, who was born in Germany but whose family renounced that citizenship.
He has no previous convictions and has been residing in Ireland legally on the basis that he has a stateless application before the authorities.
His defence counsel Michael Lynn said he is extremely concerned about his future residence as a consequence of these convictions.
Judge Martin Nolan described the prostitution network as “sophisticated”.
Following sentencing, Detective Superintendent Derek Maguire said an organised crime group with links to other international organised crime groups was running this coordinated prostitution network.
Ciuciu, he said, was a central figure in the network which has now been dismantled.
He also said the gardaà wanted to reach out to victims and tell them the police in Ireland can help and can get victims to safety, away from these networks.
He also warned those purchasing sexual services are committing a crime and facilitating the exploitation of victims.