A woman accused of possessing crime proceeds in bank accounts in Dublin and Donegal while using bogus identities has been remanded in custody.

Diana Maria Popovici, 34, currently of no fixed address but originally from Romania, was arrested at Dublin Airport on Friday evening.

The accused, who had a prior address at Timbermills, Kilmore Road, Artane, Dublin 5, was charged with 10 offences under the Theft and Fraud Act and money laundering laws.

She has six counts of possessing or transferring crime proceeds of unspecified amounts in credit balances in AIB, Bank of Ireland, and PTSB accounts in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, and AIB accounts in Blanchardstown and Raheny, in Dublin.
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She was also accused of using fake Spanish and Romanian driving licences and Italian ID cards as false instruments at various banks.

The offences allegedly occurred on various dates from October 2016 until March 2019.

www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/woman-held-on-proceeds-of-crime-and-fake-id-charges-1487397.html

A radio DJ is to be sentenced later this year after she admitted money-laundering €10,000 through her bank account.
Nikki Hayes (44), real name Eimear Black O’Keeffe, pleaded guilty to possessing the money as the proceeds of crime in a Permanent TSB bank account at an unknown location within the State on November 5th, 2020.
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The bank account was in the name of Eimear Black, with an address at The Way, Hunter’s Run, Dublin 15.
The former RTÉ 2FM and Classic Hits DJ was remanded on continuing bail at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday after Judge Orla Crowe directed that a probation report be prepared.

www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2023/06/08/nikki-hayes-to-be-sentenced-in-october-for-10000-money-laundering/

An Irish CEO is under investigation by Interpol and Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) for allegedly facilitating money laundering for the Kinahan cartel, writes Garreth MacNamee.

The firm, which offers wealth management advice to its super-rich clients, is suspected to be behind the transferring and laundering of over €1m worth of assets on behalf of the drug-trafficking organised crime gang.

While Interpol and the NCA are the chief investigators on the matter, An Garda Síochána is also liaising with these agencies as part of the inquiry.

One of the main aspects of the investigation is about a shell company allegedly set up by this wealth management firm.
Informed sources have said that the investigation is focusing heavily on the boss of the firm, who is from Ireland.
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​https://businessplus.ie/news/kinahan-cartel-irish-ceo/

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/

A trusted international gang member jailed for "industrial scale" money laundering has failed in an appeal against his six-year jail sentence and has been denied the return of a "high-end" Mercedes Benz that was seized by the State.
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Thomas Rooney (53) had his Mercedes S350, worth around €50,000, forfeited to the State in January 2022 by order of the Special Criminal Court.

Rooney, of Betaghstown, Bettystown, Co Meath, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to offences under Section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Act 2010.
He was found to be in possession of €289,770 and £65,025 (€77,000) in crime cash in a blue Nike hold-all at Spar car park, Donore Road, Drogheda on May 11th, 2020.

Rooney, who was described at sentencing as a "mid-to-high level" member of a transnational crime group, also pleaded guilty to possessing €254,840 in a black hold-all also at Donore Road and to possessing €7,650 at North Road, Drogheda, on the same date.

​https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/international-gang-member-fails-in-appealing-sentence-for-industrial-scale-money-laundering-1466861.html

A former League of Ireland footballer and two other men have been jailed after they moved just under €200,000 in criminal cash.
Edward Fitzpatrick, 39, of Ballyfermot Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering at the same address on February 12, 2021. Jonathon Barton, 42, with an address at Wheatfield Avenue, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 pleaded guilty to a count of money laundering at Circle K, Kilshane Cross, Finglas on February 12, 2021.
Gary O'Neill, 40, of Churchfields, Ashbourne, Co. Meath pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering at Circle K, Kilshane Cross, Finglas on February 12, 2021. The former professional footballer has no previous convictions. At a previous Dublin Circuit Criminal Court sentence hearing, Garda Detective John Paul Flanagan told Fiona Crawford BL, prosecuting, that a surveillance operation of Barton began after gardaí received a confidential tip-off.
They observed a van driven by Barton pull up outside a property, later identified as Fitzpatrick's residence, at 3.25pm on the day in question. Barton parked the van in the driveway, then got out. Fitzpatrick emerged from the house and both men entered the property.

https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/former-league-ireland-player-among-26771374

A college student has received a suspended sentence for laundering money which was linked to a redirect scam in which another college student lost over €14,000 meant for her college fees.

The victim, originally from New Zealand and in her final year of studying medicine at UCD, contacted gardaí after money put into her bank account by her father for her college fees never arrived.

Detective Garda Barry Griffin told Pieter Le Vert BL, prosecuting, that the UCD student made arrangements with her father in New Zealand for him to transfer money for her college fees into her Bank of Ireland account.
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When the money did not arrive, and the woman's father said he had already got a receipt for it, the woman made inquiries and found it had gone into an account in her name in Balbriggan, which she never set up.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/medical-student-lost-e14000-when-college-fees-were-redirected-in-money-laundering-scam-1445125.html