COUNTERFEIT revenue stamps worth around £250,000 have been seized as part of a continuing investigation into a fraud which Garda sources say may be widespread.
A substantial number of stamp duty stamps were seized in a raid by officers from the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation on a legal agency office in south inner city Dublin yesterday.
The stamps, with face values of between £1,000 and £10,000, were attached to 50 title deeds. Photocopying, laser printing and scanning equipment used for making the stamps was also seized.
Two men in their 40s were arrested in yesterday's raid and questioned at Raheny Garda station before being released. Two houses, in Walkinstown and Raheny, were also searched and a number of title documents with counterfeit stamps attached were seized.
Buyers of second hand houses and some new houses must pay stamp duty of up to 9 per cent to the Revenue Commissioners. The duty is paid by purchasing the stamps, which are affixed by the Revenue Commissioners to the title deeds of the property. The deeds, with the stamps attached, are then lodged with the Land Registry.
Yesterday's raid follows the recent discovery of counterfeit stamps worth between £20,000 and £30,000 in the Land Registry.
According to a Garda source, the extent of the fraud is not yet known, but it "could be substantial" and may involve more than one legal agency.