This article is a treasure trove of information and a powerful authority onthe topic.

Over 12,000 fraud crimes reported annually a 'growing concern', Oireachtas Finance Committee hears. 

Authorised push payments involving the likes of invoice redirection, romance fraud and investment fraud are made using money mules and gardaí say it is a growing area of concern for them.Senior members of the force told the Oireachtas Finance Committee this type of fraud is highly complex, can take place across several jurisdictions and is extremely lucrative.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/0531/1386748-economic-crime/

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7069747425216745472

​16,000 Irish victims of iSpoof site had €40m taken from them – with criminals posing as banks, gardaí and the HSE

Up to 300 suspects using fraudster website to con innocent people have been identified.

You can see via the article two steps of the bog standard definition of moneylaundering, being layering and integration. One integration output includes a Lamborghini, two Range Rovers worth £110,000 and an £11,000 Rolex.

The predicate offences arise from:  

• Smishing – a combination of the words “SMS” and “phishing” – a scam where fraudsters use mobile phone text messages to trick a person into opening a malicious attachment or link.
• Vishing - convincing victims that a caller is from a trusted institution such as a bank or government department when it in fact it’s from a fraudster trying to get their financial information.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/crime/16000-irish-victims-of-ispoof-site-had-40m-taken-from-them-with-criminals-posing-as-banks-gardai-and-the-hse/a1038268151.html

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/peteroakes_moneylaundering-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-activity-7069727160097202176-cjBo

Ireland is at the centre of an international money laundering operation in which global criminal gangs are buying millions of euro of legitimate products to mask stolen money. 

Detective Chief Superintendent Pat Lordan, the head of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB), spoke to The Journal at the European Anti-Financial Crime Summit.

Lordan said that his detectives have seen significant successes against organised crime groups but that more work and adequate resourcing is needed to continue that trend.

“We’ve increased detections, charged and convicted more people – we’ve increased preventative methods – taken on organised crime groups.

“A lot of countries feel that it is better to not know about this because then they look okay but my view is that no country is okay in this realm – you have to dig in, find the crime and deal with it.
“Ireland is in a good place dealing with money laundering crimes but I am concerned about the new methods that have appeared in recent times,” he said.

Lordan said that one key method that has recently become prevalent, not jut in Ireland but across Europe, is “trade-based money laundering”.

This is a method whereby criminals will use money made through crime, drug dealing and fraud mostly, to then purchase legitimate goods which through a complex web of distributors and deals to remove the paper trail back to them.
“When they steal money in Ireland or where ever, they want to get that money back to their boss in their home country.
“The difficulty if carrying the money you have to go through an airport or a port and you may get stopped by customs or law enforcement and lose the money.

“One organised crime group we are dealing with is transferring that money into product, real goods such as pharmaceuticals, shoes, machinery, perfume anything that they can sell on.
“They are then shipping those goods to their home country and the full value of the goods is repatriated to the home country where the leadership is operating. The goods have been paid for with the money they have got through fraud here in Ireland,” he explained. 

Lordan has said that this is a multinational crime – spread across the European continent. He explained that the payments could be spread across three different accounts in three different countries to mask their original origin.
He said An Garda Síochána are liaising with German, Swiss, Belgian, Italy and French police to deal with the problem. 
There are also links between the GNECB and police in the US and South Africa.

“We are leading out on this along with some really expert help and advice with Interpol – we’ve done a lot of work in this area but there is more work needed,” he explained. 

https://www.thejournal.ie/money-laundering-pat-lordan-6077558-May2023/

This article provides a broad overview of money laundering issues relating to Ireland. It is a good authoritative source if you wished to drive home to your colleagues the view of garda on money laundering.

Ireland at the centre of an international money laundering operation in which global criminal gangs are buying millions of euro of legitimate products to mask stolen money.

Detective Chief Superintendent Pat Lordan, the head of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) said that his detectives have seen significant successes against organised crime groups but that more work and adequate resourcing is needed to continue that trend.

“We’ve increased detections, charged and convicted more people – we’ve increased preventative methods – taken on organised crime groups.

“A lot of countries feel that it is better to not know about this because then they look okay but my view is that no country is okay in this realm – you have to dig in, find the crime and deal with it.

“Ireland is in a good place dealing with money laundering crimes but I am concerned about the new methods that have appeared in recent times,” he said.
​
Lordan said that one key method that has recently become prevalent, not jut in Ireland but across Europe, is “trade-based money laundering”.

Mark Bishop Head of Intelligence Operations with the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK spoke of the NCA’s efforts to rid London of Russian oligarch money laundering. 

​www.thejournal.ie/money-laundering-pat-lordan-6077558-May2023/