International inquiries led to the arrest of a man, with an American accent, in his 70s at the passport office in Cork for providing false information in passport applications using the details of two babies who died in the 1950s - Philip Morris and Geoffrey Warbrook.
On September 15, a man with an American accent was arrested at the passport office in South Mall, in Cork city, was arrested. He was charged under the name Philip Frank Morris with two offenses relating to providing false information in order to obtain a passport.
Using fingerprinting the man was identified using "an FBI 1970 arrest record". No details were furnished of the FBI record or the name of the defendant.
The man, of no fixed address, had a date of birth in the 1950s. He allegedly used the names of two dead infants, born in the 1950s and who died shortly after their birth, to obtain a passport. The man held an Irish passport for three decades but only recently obtained a Personal Public Service Number.
On Tuesday, the man appeared at the Cork District Court via video link. The court heard that Interpol was liaising with their 195 member countries in a bid to help Irish police to identify the man.
Detective Garda Padraig Hanley, of the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, told the court the elderly man had been found to have an FBI record dating to 1970. No details were provided.
The detective asked that the man be remanded in custody for an additional week and said he was cooperating with inquiries.
Detective Hanley said, when questioned, the man said he was living in Ireland but needed the passport to leave the country. Police have reached out to the Road Safety Authority, the Residential Tenancies Board, the Electricity Supply Board and the Voluntary Health Insurance Board to uncover the man's history. A team has been set up to carry out inquiries and to liaise with Interpol.
Judge Joanne Carroll remanded the man in custody to appear in court on November 7th.
1950s babies
Detective Hanley told the court, in September, that the man allegedly used the name of a baby, Philip Frank Morris, who was born in December 1952, but died shortly after, to obtain an Irish passport.
The detective told Judge Olann Kelleher the police had spoken to the brother of the late Philip Morris. The child died at the age of four months, in 1953. The man was subsequently charged with an additional offense, Breaking News reports.
The man also, allegedly, had a passport under the name Geoffrey Warbrook. Similarly, Detective Hanley told the court that police have spoken to relatives of this child. They confirmed that the baby in the early 1950s.
Hanley said “Both of those two people (Philip Morris and Geoffrey Warbook) died. We have interviewed siblings of both of those people who died in 1952 and 1953. They died within months of their birth.
"We are satisfied that he is not Philip Morris or Geoffrey Warbrook (the two names on passports allegedly seized from the man)."
The Irish Independent reports that Irish police have said inquiries in the United States have taken time as various police forces are involved.
Detective Hanley said “They (Interpol) have received some response. It is inconclusive at the moment. The issue with the United States is that some states don’t have the latest fingerprints in the system. Some have a manual system."
"Interpol has replied to us and inquiries are ongoing. We believe due to his accent that he could be from the US.”
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