Court “fed up” with stupidity defence of young money-launderers

By Jessica Magee and Eimear Dodd

A Dublin Circuit Criminal Court judge has warned that the court is “totally fed up” with young people who give their bank account details to third parties using “stupidity as a shield”.  

Judge Martin Nolan made the comments last Friday while sentencing four men in their twenties for various offences related to money laundering after €121,000 was stolen from a Dublin solicitors’ firm through invoice redirect fraud, also known as business email compromise.

The court heard that the solicitors’ firm was able to recoup €64,000 of the stolen money but has been left at a loss of €57,216.

Judge Nolan said it should be “well known to everyone” that “every type of fraud needs a bank account to obtain the money without breaking cover”.

He said the court was “totally fed up with young people coming to court and using stupidity as a shield” in relation to this type of offence which can result in “innocent third parties suffering”.

The judge said the court was giving notice that people who gave their bank details after January 2022 are “going to be in danger of going to jail”, depending on the circumstances of each individual case.

“I think the stupidity and ignorance defence has dissipated and young people are going to have to face accountability for their stupidity,” he said.

“Patience must run out at some point,” the judge said, adding “this has been going on too long”.

Cameron Fanning (25) of Bishop Rogan Park, Kilcullen, Co Kildare pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering from the solicitor’s firm on November 9, 2020 and one count of giving false information about his bank account to gardaí. He was sentenced to three and half years in prison, suspended in full on strict conditions.

Mubarak Salawu (22) of The Paddocks Drive, Adamstown, Lucan, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering in relation to the stolen monies which were credited to his account and an unrelated charge of possessing a pair of €600 Balenciaga runners bought from the proceeds of crime. He received a suspended two-year prison sentence.

Olumide Lawal (27) of Fettercairn Road, Tallaght admitted to two counts of money laundering and possession of a €900 iphone bought using the proceeds of crime. Lawal was given a suspended prison sentence of two years.

Aaron Clancy (21) of the Square, Walshtown Park, Newbridge, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to possessing €3,020, the proceeds of money laundering, in relation to the solicitors’ firm and a further unrelated count of possessing €4,650, the proceeds of crime. Clancy received a suspended prison sentence of two years.

Garda Ciaran Ronan told David Perry BL, prosecuting, that during the course of the investigation into the money stolen from the solicitors’ firm, gardaí uncovered further unrelated money laundering offences.

The solicitors’ firm, which was not named in court, declined to make a victim impact statement.

The court heard that on November 9, 2020, an accounts assistant at the solicitors’ firm sent a standard request to the company’s financial controller for €121,000 to be paid to a client account.

This email was blocked and a short time later, the financial controller got a fraudulent email asking for the same amount to be paid to a Bank of Ireland account in the name of Cameron Fanning.

Bank of Ireland officials became suspicious of the transaction and alerted Fanning and gardaí.

Some weeks later on November 18, 2020, Fanning went to gardaí and said he was acting on the advice of Bank of Ireland who said there had been suspicious activity on his account.

Fanning said he had recently lost his bank card and had not reported it as he had only one cent in his account.

He said he had no prior knowledge of the suspicious activity, that he would not give his bank details to anyone and that essentially his account had been hacked.

Gardaí observed a number of transactions out of his account totalling €57,218, dispersed in different ways including three withdrawals from post offices in Newbridge.

In his second interview with gardaí, Fanning admitted that his previous statement was false and said he had been asked by a friend to “do him a favour” and give him his bank details.

The friend said he needed access to an account to get his wages of €1,000 transferred.

Fanning said that when he checked his account later, he saw that far more than €1,000 had been transferred and he subsequently cancelled his bank account.

He told gardaí that three men turned up to his house and took him in a car to a bank in Newbridge and ordered him to withdraw money.

When Fanning refused, he said the one of the men threatened to stab him with a knife so he withdrew £7,500 sterling in a number of transactions over an hour and a half, before he was dropped home.

Fanning has no previous convictions.

Counsel for Fanning said he deeply regrets having become involved in this offence and agreed that he had behaved in a “naive and reckless fashion”.

Judge Nolan said the court accepted Fanning’s explanation was “reasonably believable”, but noted that his actions were “reckless”.

He said he considered the court would not be “justified to use Fanning as a sacrificial lamb” by imposing a custodial sentence on him and he gave him a suspended prison sentence.

The court heard that sums totalling €10,914 from the solicitors’ firm were transferred into a bitcoin account in the name of Mubarak Salawu and used to purchase cryptocurrency.

In August 2021, gardaí searched Salawu’s apartment and found a pair of Balenciaga runners bought in the UK for €605 using laundered money, in an unrelated offence.

Salawu has eight previous District Court convictions, all from the same road traffic incident, including dangerous driving, driving without insurance and giving a false name and address.

Paul Greene SC, defending Salawu, said his client expressed remorse and wanted to sincerely apologise for his actions which have brought shame on himself and his family.

Mr Greene said Salawu had received the sum of €500 for opening an account and now found himself with a serious criminal conviction.

“These were young men, gullible,” said Mr Greene, adding that Salawu was in his final year of a degree course and also volunteered at a mosque.

The court heard that one of the transactions out of Fanning’s account was for the purchase of an iphone 12 for €963, with Olumide Lawal named as the customer.

When gardaí searched Lawal’s apartment, they found three bank cards in a small fridge in his bedroom relating to accounts used to receive the proceeds of crime.

When Lawal was arrested, he denied knowing Fanning and said he was buying the phone over SnapChat and was separately asked to hold three bank cards by another person.

Garret Baker SC, defending Lawal, said his client was subject to severe bullying in his early years after moving to Ireland from Nigeria at the age of two.

Lawal nonetheless progressed and represented his school in sport before completing a four-year degree in IT.

Mr Baker said his client had difficulties paying his college fees and that his ability to work part-time was impaired after he was involved in a road traffic accident in 2019.

Lawal “immensely regrets” the decision to get involved in holding the proceeds of crime and instructed counsel to deeply apologise, the court heard.

Aaron Clancy told gardaí he saw an ad on SnapChat from a friend of a friend looking for access to bank account details in exchange for money.

He said he was naive and needed money, so he met three men who promised him €400 when he gave him his Revolut account details and access code.

The court heard that of the monies transferred from the solicitors’ firm, sums were placed into his Revolut account and then withdrawn from various ATMs in Athy.

Counsel for Clancy said he was “at the lowest rung of the ladder within this group” and had taken full responsibility for his role in the offending.

The court heard that Clancy is an apprentice electrician due to qualify in a month’s time and was also a valued member of his sporting club.

“It would not serve society if he were to be put in custody at this stage,” counsel claimed.

Judge Nolan said innocent people lose their money and counsel come to court and say their client was stupid, made a bad decision or succumbed to temptation.

“But somebody is going to go to jail, to stop people making these stupid decisions, because this is continuing for years now. This court has dealt with dozens of these cases. We have a blameless, innocent defendant who really didn’t know what he was doing…but he did. He took a chance,” said the judge.

Imposing sentence on Salawu, Lawal and Clancy, the judge noted that the amounts involved were lower and all three were young men with their “futures in front of them”.