Waterford District Court recently heard a case of a young man charged with money laundering and sale and supply of drugs.
Samuel Olohun (19) of 6 Shandon Court, Upper Yellow Road, Waterford, appeared before Judge John Cheatle in court in April, where he pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering, contrary to Section 7 (1) (a) (ii) and (3) of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing Act) 2010 and possession of drugs (namely cannabis and cocaine) for the purpose of unlawful sale and/or supply, contrary to Section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1977.
Sergeant Michael Hickey told the court that on 5 November 2024, Gardaí received a report from someone who had fallen victim to a text scam that claimed to be from Amazon.
The injured party had authorised a payment of €1,500 out of their account, and contacted Gardaí when they discovered that a total of €8,800 had been taken out without their consent.
Sgt Hickey said that after Gardaí investigated the matter, they discovered that the funds had entered the accused’s bank account. He added that although a freeze was placed on the account to recover some of the funds, the bank remains at a loss of €3,600 from the incident. The sale and supply charges faced by the accused related to incidents in February 2025, where the accused was found with €1,470 worth of cocaine and cannabis to the value of €1,200 by Gardaí.
It was noted in court that the accused has no previous convictions.
Acting for the defendant, solicitor Hilary Delahunty said that his client would be indicating a guilty plea for the money laundering charge if it would help Judge Cheatle determine if the matter could stay in the District Court. The judge decided to accept jurisdiction for the charge, but said it is ‘serious’.
A probation report on the accused was read by Judge Cheatle, but the contents of this were not read out to the court. It was noted by the judge that the report did not cover details of the money laundering charge, as the accused had only indicated a guilty plea during this court sitting.
Mr. Delahunty said that it was a ‘very positive’ probation report, which indicated that his client has a “low risk of re-offending.”
The solicitor added that the accused is no longer taking drugs, and has nothing else pending before the courts. He concluded by telling the court in relation to the money laundering charge that “the people who run these scams have never been caught.”
Judge Cheatle invited the accused to make a contribution of €500 to the court poor box for the money laundering charge, indicating that if this is paid before 22 September 2026, he would apply Section 1 (1) of the Probation Act.
The other matters were taken into consideration and the judge also made a destruction order for the drugs.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme
Robyn Power
