A Cork-based financial-advisory company has pleaded guilty at Cork District Court to two charges of breaching regulations on the sending of unsolicited marketing material without consent.

The proceedings against Alpha Wealth Limited were taken by the Data Protection Commission (DPC), which welcomed the outcome.

The two charges related against the company related to the sending to two individuals of unsolicited marketing email messages without consent.

The offences, under regulation 13 of SI 336/2011, occurred in January 2023.

Previous complaint

The company had received a warning from the data watchdog in 2022, after the investigation of a previous complaint about unsolicited emails sent to one of the individuals concerned.

The court applied the Probation of Offenders Act 1907, on condition that the defendant make a donation of €500 to each of the two individuals concerned by 18 October 2023.

Failing compliance with that order, the court indicated that it would convict the defendant and apply a fine of €1,000. Alpha Wealth Limited agreed to discharge the DPC’s legal costs.

The DPC said that the outcome should serve as “yet another reminder” to all organisations engaged in any form of electronic marketing that non-compliance with the regulations may result in a criminal prosecution by the watchdog.