Money mule gets suspended sentence

By Claire Henry

A young man has been handed a nine-month suspended sentence for his role as a money mule.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Abraham Adeniyi (22) from Golden Ridge Mews, Rush in Co Dublin pleaded guilty to money laundering at an unknown location on September 15, 2021. He has no previous convictions.

Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Martin Nolan said, “This man, who was 18 at the time, made a bad judgement and allowed his bank account to be used”.

Judge Nolan said that Adeniyi “Is doing very well now, and I think it would be unjust to imprison him”.

Judge Nolan sentenced Adeniyi to nine months in prison but suspended it in full under the condition that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour for nine months.

Garda Paul Kelly told Marc Murphy, BL, prosecuting, that the injured party in this case received a message on her phone from whom she believed was her bank.

The message stated that there was a difficulty with her bank account, and she clicked on the link provided.

The following day, the woman received a call from her bank informing her that €9,517 had been transferred from her account.

The court heard that the woman knew nothing about this transaction and the bank was able to recall the full amount of money and return it to her.

The bank account which the money had been transferred to was Adeniyi’s and he was unknown to the injured party.

Gda Kelly said gardai were made aware of the incident and they obtained financial records from the injured party.

A court order was obtained for Adeniyi’s bank account, and he was later arrested.

During his interview with the gardai, he was cooperative and said he had allowed his bank account to be used by a third party and he had been used as a money mule.

The court heard that Adeniyi was eighteen years old at the time.

It was also outlined to the court that Adeniyi did not send the initial message to the injured party.

Gda Kelly agreed with Oisin Clarke, BL, defending, that he was unlikely to see Adeniyi before the courts again.

Mr Clarke said his client was “a young man who made a stupid mistake”.

Counsel said Adeniyi is now employed and working two jobs and is in his third year of a four-year course.