Woman avoids jail term for money laundering

By Sonya McLean

A woman has been sentenced for money laundering after she engaged with a man on Snapchat who offered her “quick cash”.

Caithlin Balmer (26) arrived at her local garda station and told Garda Harry Hockney that she engaged with the snapchat account called mrdotmakemoney4u, an account which was posting stories asking if anyone would be willing to allow the man to use their bank account.

The man claimed that he would compensate the bank account holder between €750 to €1,000.

Balmer, formerly of Grange Abbey Grove, Donaghmede, Dublin 13, came forward to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on signed pleas of guilty from the District Court.

She pleaded guilty to three charges of being in possession of the proceeds of criminal conduct, totalling €21,400, on three separate dates in August 2022.

Caroline Latham BL, prosecuting, told Judge Pauline Codd that the State accepts Balmer’s pleas on the basis of recklessness.

She said of the total cash stolen from the victim’s bank account, €16,409 was transferred or withdrawn.

The victim was compensated by the bank and the bank managed to recoup some of the balance that remained in Balmer’s bank account.

The money was stolen from the woman’s bank account following a phishing scam.

She knew she was due to pay custom charges for some shopping she had bought online and responded to a bogus text purporting to be from An Post to confirm those payments.

There was no victim impact statement before the court.

Gda Hockney told Ms Latham that Balmer confirmed that she had allowed her bank account to be used and withdrew some of the funds transferred.

She met with an unknown man to hand over the cash. She said other funds were withdrawn from her account by someone else.

It was accepted that the most Balmer received from this person for her role was €175.

She said she had become friends with this man on Snapchat in April 2022 and interacted with him before he approached her the following August and asked for her bank account details.

It was accepted that Balmer had no involvement in gathering the information on the victim’s account or taking the money from her account.

Gda Hockney agreed with Seoirse Fennessy BL, defending, that Balmer has since moved to Listowel in Kerry where she is working as a nursing care assistant in a nursing home.

He acknowledged that she was in fear of the person she had interacted with and that was why she reported her involvement to gardaí.

Mr Fennessy told Judge Codd that his client had €5,000 in court as a genuine expression of her remorse, adding that this sum of money would have been difficult for her to get together.

He asked the court to accept that her early pleas of guilty were significant and that she had co-operated with the garda investigation.

“The criminals involved in this saw her as expendable,” Mr Fennessy submitted to the court.

Judge Codd said that Balmer had been “actively involved” in this offence and it was a significant amount of money that had been stolen.

She accepted Balmer acted as a money mule but added “she did get involved because there was free money effectively offered”.

“She was highly naïve. She realised she was getting in over her head and was scared to withdraw,” Judge Codd said before she gave credit to Balmer for going to the gardaí herself.

She set a headline sentence of two and half years before she took into account mitigation including Balmer’s deep and genuine remorse and the fact that she is highly thought of by her current employer.

Judge Codd noted that Balmer has always been determined and compassionate and “her work has been directed towards compassion and a willingness to help others,” which she said had been referenced in various testimonials before the court.

“A message of general deterrence has to go out. There are constant ads on the radio warning people about these types of scams,” Judge Codd said before she acknowledged that Balmer didn’t financially gain from the offence.

“She was highly reckless, highly foolish and highly naïve engaging in this situation,” Judge Codd said before she imposed a 12 month sentence which she suspended in full on strict conditions.