Ireland Crime

Named as

Victim

Offences

Human trafficking, Money laundering, Forgery

Where

Co. Donegal

Reporting

1 report, 18 Jun 2026 to 18 Jun 2026

Outlets

rte.ie

• Two men jailed for human trafficking in Donegal Human trafficking · Co. Donegal

  Georgijs Poniza, 37, a Latvian man, and Armen Pogosyan, 30, an Armenian man from Uzbekistan, were sentenced at Donegal Circuit Court in June 2026 for trafficking seven Latvian nationals to Ireland for labour exploitation between December 2020 and October 2023. The victims, including Mariss Lipiens, were recruited by deception in Latvia and housed in substandard accommodation in Rossnowlagh and Ballyshannon, where approximately €750,000 in wages was taken from them. The men were arrested in October 2023 as part of an international operation involving Europol and Latvian law enforcement, and faced 17 charges each including trafficking, money laundering and forgery. They pleaded guilty after a jury had been empanelled for trial. Poniza received a 13-year prison sentence and Pogosyan a 13-year sentence with the final two years suspended, in what was described as the first conviction of its kind in the Republic for human trafficking for labour exploitation.

  Sentenced, 18 Jun 2026Victim · 1 report

Each entry shows how that report described them.

1. 18 Jun2026
   Sentencedrte.ie, in Two men jailed for human trafficking in Donegal

   Two men jailed for 24 years for human trafficking

   victim, Mariss Lipiens, male, non-irish (judged from name)Mariss Lipiens♂

Matched on the name as printed, ignoring quoted nicknames, and split by the ages reported. Two people who share a name and age would appear together here.