Suspended sentence for dancer who spent €13,000 in laundered money

By Jessica Magee

An accomplished dancer who used €13,000 in laundered money to buy a juicer, a food processor and an oil extractor machine has been ordered to complete community service.

Paul Olunaike (34), a Dublin father-of-four, pleaded guilty to possessing €13,738 as the proceeds of crime in his bank account on August 25, 2020.

Olunaike, with an address at Russell Square, Tallaght, Dublin 24, has two previous convictions for minor assault and possessing €20 worth of drugs.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously heard that Olunaike has a “significant degree of shame and remorse” after he allowed his Ulster Bank account details to be used for invoice redirect fraud.

At a previous hearing, Judge Orla Crowe set a headline sentence of two years but adjourned finalisation to give probation services time to assess whether Olunaike would be suitable for community service.

On Thursday the court heard Olunaike had been deemed suitable for community service.

Judge Crowe said the court was going to give Olunaike a chance and ordered him to carry out 240 hours of community service within the next two years in lieu of an 18-month sentence.

The judge had noted at a previous hearing that Olunaike transferred €4,000 of the laundered money to his mother.

She said that although the amount of money involved was an aggravating factor, she accepted that the offence was an isolated incident and that Olunaike had given €2,000 to the prosecuting garda by way of a contribution towards the losses incurred.

The judge said Olunaike has not come to garda’s attention since this incident and described him as a hardworking man and a father with many responsibilities and family commitments.

“He is playing a useful role in society,” said Judge Crowe.

Detective Garda Ester Devanny of the National Economic Crime Bureau told Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, that the alarm was raised by gardaí in Waterford as part of a much larger investigation into invoice redirect fraud, which involved hundreds of files.

Gardaí were alerted that Ulster Bank detected fraud when money was transferred into Olunaike’s account from an Italian textile firm, Zero and Company, who were the victims in this case.

The court heard Olunaike used the funds to buy a juicer valued at €609 and a MagiMix food processor for €404.99, purchases which were confirmed with retailer Harvey Norman.

Gda Devanny agreed with Brian Gageby BL, defending, that an oil extractor machine was also bought with the laundered money.

The prosecuting garda further agreed that Olunaike was one of at least 123 people who had allowed their bank accounts to be used for invoice redirect fraud as part of this operation.

Mr Gageby said although his client told gardaí he couldn’t give names of others involved in the offence, he was generally cooperative and had written a letter expressing his deep shame and remorse.

The court heard that Olunaike and his partner have four young children.

Mr Gageby said Olunaike moved to Ireland at the age of 13, studied business and finance at third level and worked as a professional dancer.

Olunaike now works on a casual basis for an event management company who described him as a valued and dedicated employee with great communication skills.

Olunaike wrote a letter saying he was “truly and deeply sorry” and could not begin to express his shame and embarrassment at his own actions.

His partner also wrote a letter to the court describing his qualities as a father to his young children.

Judge Crowe instructed that the juicer and food processor be given to a local charity or refuge.