US authorities are seeking the extradition of a 28-year-old Irishman described in the High Court by an FBI special agent as...
"the largest facilitator of child porn on the planet."
Eric Eoin Marques appeared before Mr Justice Paul Gilligan on foot of an extradition request by the FBI, which alleges he is involved in the distribution of online child pornography.
The High Court yesterday put Mr Marques back in custody until next Thursday.
The court heard Mr Marques, who has Irish and US citizenship, was arrested on a Maryland warrant that records charges of distributing and promoting child pornography on the internet.
Yesterday a judge refused to grant Mr Marques, with an address at Mountjoy Square in central Dublin, bail until the extradition request has been determined.
The US authorities are seeking his extradition on four charges. The court heard that if convicted he faces sentences of up to 30 years in prison.
The charges relate to images on a large number of websites described as being extremely violent, graphic and depicting the rape and torture of pre-pubescent children.
It is understood the FBI had spent a year trying to locate Mr Marques.
Mr Marques comes from a respected middle class family and his father, a Brazilian, is an architect with a practice in the Middle East.
Barrister Ronan Kennedy, counsel for the Attorney General, said Mr Marques was arrested on Thursday on foot of an extradition warrant issued by a US court on July 29. Investigating gardai and the FBI both objected to bail being granted. It was claimed Mr Marques represented a flight risk.
The court heard evidence that large sums of money had passed through his bank accounts, including large payments sent to accounts in Romania.
The court also heard that a search of Mr Marques's computer revealed he had made inquires about how to get a visa and entry into Russia.
He had no previous convictions nor had he ever come to the attention of the authorities before.
Mr Marques told the court he was born in the US but has lived in Ireland since he was five. He said his father is Brazilian and his mother is Irish. He said he had visited Romania a few times, and had friends and an ex-girlfriend there whom he was helping out financially.
He said he was last in Romania a few weeks ago when he withdrew €6,000 from his credit card to help a friend start a business.
He also told the court several weeks ago he searched online about Russian visas out of curiosity due to the issues surrounding former US NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Refusing bail, Mr Justice Paul Gilligan said he accepted the evidence that Mr Marques was a flight risk.
Mr Justice Gilligan remanded Mr Marques in custody, to a sitting of the High Court on next Thursday.
Source:http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/fbi-bids-to-extradite-largest-childporn-dealer-on-planet-29469402.html
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