A MAN whose banking transactions were flagged as suspicious by European police agency Interpol was jailed for 18 months for allowing almost €40,000 to be laundered through his account.
Alan Kelly (30), of Erinagh, Clonlara, County Clare, received two 18-month sentences, to run concurrently, after he pleaded guilty before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court to two counts of money-laundering.
Interpol agents, based in Liechtenstein and in South Korea, contacted Gardaí in Limerick in respect of two bank accounts belonging to Mr Kelly which contained “suspicious” financial transactions, said John O’Sullivan, prosecuting counsel for the State, instructed by Padraig Mawe, State Solicitor for Limerick City.
Sergeant Fiona O’Connell gave evidence that, on March 22, 2021, fraudulent emails were sent to a company in Korea purporting to be from a customer of theirs in France.
“The email requested that the bank details on the Korean company’s records were changed from a French bank account to a Bank of Ireland account in Dooradoyle (Limerick). As a result, a sum of €27,421.04 was fraudulently transferred to a Bank of Ireland (BOI) account held in the name of the accused,” said Sergeant O’Connell.
Sergeant O’Connell told the court that, the following day, a sum of €9,820.14 was transferred from Kelly’s BOI account to an account in Germany, followed by a further transaction of €6,900 also to the Germany account, as well as other sums transferred via Revolut and Wise banking apps, until there was “no money left” in Kelly’s account.
She said the following April, 2021, an email account belonging to a manager of a Liechtenstein-based company was compromised by an unknown party and used to transfer €10,100 from an account in the UK to an Allied Irish Bank (AIB) account held in Kelly’s name, based on the Ennis Road in Limerick.
The AIB branch froze the assets in Kelly’s account and he was subsequently arrested.
While under caution, during interviews with Gardaí, Kelly admitted that the AIB and BOI accounts were both held solely in his name, but he could not explain the transactions.
Kelly had 36 previous convictions, including possession of drugs and threatening to kill or cause serious harm, the court heard.
In mitigation, Kelly’s barrister said: “At the time Mr Kelly was addicted to cocaine and Xanax, he was working as a block-layer and a painter, and he made a very grave error of judgement to allow his accounts to be used for a small nominal fee.”
“He didn’t know what the accounts would be used for, but he was reckless in that regard.”
Ms Carey said Kelly has job prospects, expressed genuine remorse, is not currently using drugs, is in a supportive relationship, and has no trappings of wealth from allowing himself to be a “money mule”.
Judge Colin Daly said that Kelly allowed his two bank accounts to be used for laundering in excess of €37,500.
“He knew, or he ought to have known, that he was assisting organised crime with a significant international dimension,” the judge said.
