The High Court has dismissed a judicial review application by Adnan Afzal, who argued that missing internet protocol (IP) records could impair his defence to three alleged money laundering offences.
Mr Justice Nolan ruled on 7 February 2024 that the records’ absence did not create a risk that Mr Afzal would be denied a fair trial. The application sought to prevent his criminal trial from proceeding. The judge said the trial judge could warn the jury about any potential risk of injustice. The court did not decide whether Mr Afzal committed the offences. It reserved the question of costs for further submissions.
The charges concern transfers of €20,000, €6,200 and €25,000 into an AIB account in the name of AA Fruits and Vegetables, which Mr Afzal said he had opened for a proposed import business but had not used for trading. The prosecution alleges that €511,369.14 was diverted from payments intended for Dublin Zoo’s construction contractor through a series of accounts, including accounts held by Mr Afzal and his wife, who was also charged. The alleged offences concern three transfers credited to the business account.
Mr Afzal argued that Gardaí had not sought or preserved IP records linked to email accounts used in the transfers. His side submitted that the records could help locate where the fraudulent emails were sent and potentially support his defence. The prosecution disputed that an IP address would identify the person using a device and argued that technology such as virtual private networks could obscure its location. It also said the missing records were not fatal to the defence and that the trial judge could address the issue.
The judge accepted that Gardaí have a duty to seek and preserve evidence relevant to guilt or innocence. But he considered the importance of the missing records overstated and was not satisfied their absence prevented Mr Afzal from presenting a full defence. He noted that their unavailability could itself provide a further line of defence. The movement of funds between accounts, he said, raised suspicions, but that was a matter for trial.
The judge also addressed the prosecution’s argument about delay. Mr Afzal brought his judicial review in December 2021, about a year after his wife’s application, which had raised the missing IP records. The judge said the delay would have been fatal to Mr Afzal’s application if the fairness issue had not already led him to dismiss it.