A Waterford solicitor has said there is currently an ‘avalanche’ of money laundering cases before the courts in Ireland, and the “problem is that they’re still coming” – after a man appeared in court last month charged with the offence.
Bryan Walsh (31) of 2 Apian Close, Ardkeen Village, Waterford, was before Judge John Cheatle at a sitting of Waterford District Court last week, charged with money laundering, contrary to Section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010.
He pleaded guilty to the charges, which related to transactions that allowed him to illegally receive over €3,000 in his Revolut account in 2023.
Sergeant John Phelan told the court that in September 2023, the injured party, who is living in Dublin, reported to Gardaí that they had over €7,000 taken from their bank account after falling victim to a scam. The Sergeant said that a total of eight transactions were made out of the victim’s account to separate accounts, and four of these were sent into the accused’s Revolut account.
It was outlined that the accused received a total of €3,780 into his Revolut, which was made up of two amounts of €950, and two of €940. The court heard that the rest of the money taken from the victim was credited into the accounts of others.
Sgt. Phelan also told the court that the victim has since been reimbursed by their bank for the amount taken, but the bank is now at a loss. It was noted that the accused has five previous convictions for matters that were unrelated to these charges.
‘Avalanche’ of money laundering cases
Acting for the defendant, solicitor Hilary Delahunty said that if someone had told him that there would be an ‘avalanche’ of money laundering cases before the courts in Ireland, he wouldn’t have necessarily believed it, but added that there is at the moment, and “the problem is, that they’re still coming.”
Mr. Delahunty told Judge Cheatle that his client’s involvement arose from giving his account details to a ‘trusted individual’, which he feels ‘foolish’ for doing now.
The solicitor added that although there were other accounts involved, the accused will “not escape culpability” for it, and that at the time of the offence, he got caught up with “bad characters”.
Mr. Delahunty concluded by saying that his client is 31-years-old, and suffers from cystic fibrosis and ADHD, and told the court that “whoever the awful people are that are doing this – hopefully the Gardaí will catch up with them” but that the accused “will have to be punished for his stupidity, which is the same as recklessness in this case.”
Judge Cheatle initially asked Mr Delahunty if his client told Gardaí how he spent the money. However, the Judge then acknowledged that it was a ‘serious matter’ and the amount involved was at the level of potentially being heard in the Circuit Criminal Court.
Judge Cheatle imposed a 10 month sentence for the charges, which was suspended for 18 months.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme
Robyn Power
