Courts / Dublin / Report
Fake document 'distribution network' for illegal immigrants made hundreds of thousands
Summary
Vakjtang Jokhadze (48) and Sophia Grdzelishili (46) were convicted in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for running a network that supplied Georgian nationals with fake EU driving licences and ID cards to facilitate illegal immigration. They pleaded guilty to facilitating human trafficking between June and December 2019, and to money‑laundering and possession of false instruments. The court found the scheme was driven by asylum‑seeking and economic migration, not coercion for prostitution or forced labour. Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Jokhadze to four years' imprisonment, back‑dated to his first custody in October 2019, and Grdzelishili to a three‑year sentence suspended in its entirety on strict conditions. The judge noted the defendants' financial gains—over €300,000 in transfers—and the use of multiple false identities, but also considered Grdzelishili's role as primary carer of a teenage son before deciding on the suspended sentence.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Fake document 'distribution network' for illegal immigrants made hundreds of thousands. Charges or matters: facilitating the trafficking of illegal immigrants within the State on respective dates between June 1, 2019 and June 26, 2019, and October 30, 2019 and December 10, 2019; money laundering, making a gain by deception and possession of false instruments at various locations in Dublin on dates between August 29, 2012 and June 26, 2019; possession of false instruments at her address on October 30, 2019 and December 10, 2019. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- June 1, 2019 Incident
- June 26, 2019 Incident
- October 30, 2019 Incident
- December 10, 2019 Incident
- August 29, 2012 Incident
- October 2019 Incident
- June 2019 Other
- December 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2021-06-18 Publication
Why: Two Georgian nationals who made hundreds of thousands of euro by acting as a network that provided illegal immigrants with false documentation in order to enter here have been sentenced. CNI source report
Case subjects
Accused
Charges: facilitating the trafficking of illegal immigrants within the State on respective dates between June 1, 2019 and June 26, 2019, and October 30, 2019 and December 10, 2019; money laundering, making a gain by deception and possession of false instruments at various locations in Dublin on dates between August 29, 2012 and June 26, 2019; possession of false instruments at her address on October 30, 2019 and December 10, 2019 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: He sentenced Grdzelishili to three years imprisonment, but suspended the sentence in its entirety on strict conditions. Judge Nolan said that but for Grdzelishili having a teenage son for whom she is the primary carer, she would be going to prison as he thought she deserved a custodial sentence.
Accused
Charges: facilitating the trafficking of illegal immigrants within the State on respective dates between June 1, 2019 and June 26, 2019, and October 30, 2019 and December 10, 2019; money laundering, making a gain by deception and possession of false instruments at various locations in Dublin on dates between August 29, 2012 and June 26, 2019; possession of false instruments at her address on October 30, 2019 and December 10, 2019 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Judge Nolan sentenced Jokhadze to four years imprisonment, which he backdated to when the accused first went into custody in October 2019.
Places mentioned
Topics
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