Fishmonger who flew into Ireland to pick up €420,000 jailed for money laundering

By Isabel Hayes

A fishmonger who flew into the country and picked up more than €420,000 in cash in a security deposit box facility before being caught by a sniffer dog has been jailed for 18 months.

Roman German (41) with an address at Algrirdo, Vilinus, Lithuania, was caught by a customs officer at Dublin Port with a bag containing €420,405 in cash on December 6, 2022.

He pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to an offence of money laundering. He has no previous convictions in Ireland or Lithuania.

Garda Sean Dineen told John Berry BL, prosecuting, that German flew into the country on December 5 and stayed in a hotel beside Croke Park before going to a security deposit box facility in Dublin 4 the next day and collecting the cash.

He then made his way to Dublin Port where the sniffer dog picked up the fact that he was carrying large amounts of cash in his bag. German made few admissions to gardaí when arrested and interviewed. He has been in custody since his arrest.

Michael O’Higgins SC, defending, told the court that German worked as a fishmonger in Lithuania before his business failed and he then set up a children’s play centre. This business also got into difficulties due to Covid lockdowns, the court heard.

Defence counsel said German heard that money could be made from picking up cash. He noted German was not the owner or the beneficiary of the money he was caught with, but simply a courier. The court heard German was to be paid €200 for picking up the cash.

Gardaí were unable to establish who placed the money in the security deposit box for German to pick up.

Sentencing German, Judge Elma Sheahan noted he had no criminal record, had entered a guilty plea and had a partner and young child at home in Lithuania. She accepted he is at a low risk of re-offending.

She sentenced him to 18 months in jail and backdated the sentence to when he first went into custody in December last year.