The High Court has ordered Carlos Michael Mason’s surrender to the United Kingdom for prosecution on allegations of conspiracy to commit fraud and acquiring, using or possessing criminal property.
In a judgment delivered on 1 March 2021, Mr Justice Paul Burns said the court would make the order under section 16(1) of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003. The application was brought by the Minister for Justice and Equality under a warrant dated 3 December 2020, issued by District Judge Sam Goozée of Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
The warrant was endorsed by the High Court on 16 December 2020. Mason was arrested and brought before the court on 22 December. The judge said he was satisfied that Mason was the person named in the warrant; identity had not been disputed.
The court found that the minimum gravity requirements were met. The judgment states that the maximum penalties in the issuing jurisdiction were 14 years’ imprisonment for the conspiracy offence and 10 years for the criminal property offence. It also found that none of the statutory grounds considered under sections 21A, 22, 23 and 24 prohibited surrender, and that no other provision of the Act precluded it.
The judge considered whether the warrant’s listed offence categories could be relied on without the applicant establishing correspondence with offences under Irish law. The issuing authority had certified that the offences fell within categories including fraud, participation in a criminal organisation and laundering the proceeds of crime. The High Court sought further information specifically about the criminal property offence.
In a reply dated 17 February 2021, the issuing authority alleged that Mason was the head of an organised crime group that fraudulently obtained members of the public’s banking details, which were then used to make fraudulent purchases or sold on. It said money from those sales was criminal property acquired, used or possessed by Mason. The judge held that the additional information and warrant material supported use of the listed-category procedure. He added that correspondence with Irish offences could be established if required.
The ruling determines the surrender application. It does not determine Mason’s guilt on the offences for which the UK seeks to prosecute him.