Three Brazilians have been accused of using “a complex web” of accounts yielding €3.5 million by leasing 17 properties throughout Ireland to operate as brothels, a court has heard.
Matheus Berberick (35) and his 27-year-old sister, Maria Berberick, of Raheen Close, along with Sander de Silva Pereira (40), of Loftus Hall, both in Tallaght, were arrested after a Garda National Protective Services Bureau investigation.
The District Court remanded them in custody on August 14th after the trio were charged with enhancing a criminal organisation and multiple counts of possessing proceeds of criminal conduct: €2.3m for Matheus Berberick, €479,000 in his sister’s case, and €721,000 in relation to Pereira. The offence carries a maximum 15-year sentence.
Maria Berberick alone faces an additional charge for using a fake identity document as a false instrument.
Because the prosecution involves organised crime-related offences, their bail applications had to be heard in the High Court, where Garda objections were outlined in a two-day hearing.
Rachel Cadden, for the State, submitted that they had an incentive to flee the case, which concerned shell companies, receiving and processing proceeds of crime, brothel keeping, and tax evasion.
She highlighted that a forensic accountant had established that firms linked to two men had no employees or records of VAT returns.
Cadden said the State contended that the businesses appeared valid, but their modus operandi was that of a sophisticated, extensive money-laundering operation. Conditions would not meet Garda concerns, she told the court.
Ms Siobhán Justice Lankford held that the Berbericks were a flight risk and refused their applications for release. However, she found that the case against Pereira was not as strong and that he could be granted bail with a €9,000 independent surety and conditions.
The offences allegedly took place at an unknown location in the State from March 1st, 2023, until August 10th, 2026. They have yet to enter pleas in the case.
Bureau Det Chief Supt Thelma Watters supported the objection to bail.
Another officer described the three defendants as “essential cogs” in what the bureau termed the “Berberick organised crime group”.
Det Sgt Michael McGrath told the court that the investigation stemmed from an inquiry into human trafficking, organised prostitution, brothel keeping, money laundering, and the use of a false instrument. Investigators have identified 40 witnesses and gathered 801 exhibits so far.
At the bail hearing, it was stated that the defendants were undocumented and had been subject to deportation proceedings after being found in the State in 2018 but remained in Ireland.
In 2022, Matheus Berberick applied for migrant status as part of the undocumented migrant scheme and subsequently obtained a Stamp 4 visa to remain in the State, after which the alleged offences were committed.
The court was told that the alleged organisation leased 17 properties countrywide, including nine premises in Dublin, as well as locations in counties Wexford, Cavan, Laois and Kildare, to operate as brothels.
Some were allegedly linked to another organised crime group, the court heard.
It was alleged that the properties were leased specifically to facilitate organised prostitution, and that the sex workers at each location came from poor socioeconomic backgrounds.
WhatsApp messages were also part of the case. The judge said she wished to see if they were still included in the evidence when the case is listed for mention on November 16th next.
The Berbericks’ defence counsel argued that the brother and sister were not charged with a brothel-keeping offence, and they had given accounts to gardaí of their roles.