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Here is a money laundering typology for those looking for a type of #financialcrime #tradefinance case.

➡️ 535kgs of drugs were imported from Mexico into Cork Port at Ringaskiddy [Ireland] in October 2023, concealed in a purpose-built electromagnetic metal separator, according to court reports of the hearing. Customs officials discovered the machine with the drugs inside it so well concealed it was almost impossible to detect, the court was told.  

➡️ it is the biggest seizure of crystal meth in Ireland. He is chief executive of Ballyseedy Home and Garden Centre issued a heartfelt statement on its social media pages

➡️ the seizure of €32.8m worth of crystal meth resulted in the arrests and charges last Friday of:

• Nathan McDonnell (43). He is chief executive of Ballyseedy Home and Garden Centre issued a heartfelt statement on its social media pages. Mr McDonnell had admitted allowing the machine to be stored at Ballyseedy Garden Centre and that he was to be paid €150,000, the court was told. He was also charged with possession of the drug for sale or supply.
• Mr James Leen (41).  He is from Listowel.  He is charged with importing the crystal meth on October 16, 2023, to the Port of Cork.

• https://www.linkedin.com/posts/peteroakes_moneylaundering-financialcrime-tradefinance-activity-7167623176003264512-ZcUR
• https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/tralee-ceos-crystal-meth-arrest-prompts-statement-from-his-familys-garden-centre-business/a315081773.html

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/