Hefty bail bond for man accused of deceiving woman out of €17,000

A man charged with deceiving a woman out of €17,000, which she believed was to help him fund his business in Malawi, has been admitted to bail subject to a hefty independent surety of €10,000 as well as his own bond of €5,000.

Bright Banda (39), formerly of Meadow Lane, Roscommon Road, Athlone, Co Roscommon, appeared before Judge Bernadette Owens at Athlone District Court, where he faced four counts of theft by dishonesty.

In a contested bail hearing, the court heard how, on February 13, 2023, at an address on Sarsfield Square, Athlone, it is alleged that Mr Banda dishonestly by deception induced a woman to transfer €1,000 to his account in the belief she was giving him money to buy a white Volkswagen Polo car.

Two identical charges of €1,000 transfers arose on February 17 and March 31, 2023, with the woman again believing she was transferring the money to help the accused purchase a car.

A further charge on March 31, 2023 at Athlone Credit Union, alleges that Mr Banda induced the same woman to transfer €14,000 from her Credit Union account to his AIB account, with the reference “car balance”, and made her believe it was for his truck business in Malawi and that she would be repaid.

In a contested bail hearing, Garda Gavin Conway outlined his concerns that Mr Banda, who is an Irish citizen, holds two Irish passports - one paper and one passport card - but Gardaí are only in possession of one, with the whereabouts of the other unknown.

He outlined Garda fears that Mr Banda would return to his native Malawi if given bail, as he has money, family and a number of businesses over there, including a truck business called Coosan Logistics and a pre-school called Happy Learning.

While he has ties to this country - an ex partner with two children, and a third child from another partner - he is not living with them and Gardaí do not believe he will stay in the country.

While there are no other charges of a similar nature currently before the court, there will be further charges, Garda Conway said, as there are “definitely two more injured parties”.

“I believe he’ll return to Malawi where he confirmed he has a lot of money and businesses and family members. I don’t believe he’ll return if he goes,” said Garda Conway.

Mr Banda also has a social media account under a different name, he added, and has been “portraying a lifestyle” under that name, causing Gardaí more concern for the missing passport card.

“He also made up these stories to the injured party to get money out of her. He has €100,000 in Malawi and said he was going to send money back. He freely suggested in interview that he was going back to Malawi to send money back,” he said.

“The injured party was getting fed up with his excuses. She had saved up for a mortgage and her account went into arears for a loan. She believed she was helping him out with a business and she’d get the money back.”

Solicitor for the defence, Mr Dara Hayden, said the case is “in the early stages of investigation” and that he “can’t see where this goes from civil to criminal”.

Mr Banda was in Paris when Gardaí first contacted him about the case, waiting to catch a plane to Malawi two hours later, but he returned to Ireland to meet with Gardaí, he added.

“He’s had a job for the last seven years and is an Irish citizen. He has absolutely no intention of going back to Malawi. He came as an economic migrant and has a much better life here. He has funds to pay the alleged victim. He has provided an address, he has a job,” said Mr Hayden.

“This is, and potentially will become a highly complex investigation. The state are asking for this man to be remanded in custody for years.”

Sergeant Sandra Keane, prosecuting, did not accept that the accused would be in custody “for years”, stating that matters would be expedited if he were in custody.

“He has ties here to some extent, but he’s not living with his children. He’s a massive flight risk. He has no financial support, no address he can reside in. A big red flag is that he has other identification - a second passport and sent Gardaí on a wild goose chase to find it,” she said.

“He proffered an address in Dublin, the property was searched but it wasn’t there. Now he says it may be in Battery Heights.” 

The Battery Heights address provided to the court as an address at which he could reside on bail is his ex-partner’s house, the court heard. His own house in Meadow Lane was put up for sale and so he did not have an address of his own. He was welcome to stay with his ex-partner “at most for three weeks”, the court heard.

Judge Owens noted Mr Banda has been residing in the country for 15 years, has been employed for seven years, has ties in Ireland and is an Irish citizen. She also noted that he returned to Ireland from Paris when contacted by Gardaí instead of flying onward to Malawi as was his intention.

With that in mind, she decided to grant him bail, “but with strict conditions”. Those conditions included an own bond of €5,000 with Mr Banda ordered to lodge €2,500 of that. 

An independent surety of €10,000 was also directed, to be approved by Gardaí. €5,000 of that will need to be lodged before Mr Banda is released.

He is to reside at Battery Heights and seek Garda Conway’s approval for a change of address and, prior to his release from custody, he is to make arrangements to surrender the passport card.

He is also required to sign on daily at Athlone Garda Station, provide a mobile number within 48 hours of release and be contactable at all times, and to have no contact with the injured party.

Mr Banda was remanded in custody with consent to bail until today February 11, 2026.

• Published under the Courts Reporting Scheme.