Man allowed bank account to be used in student accommodation fraud

By Eimear Dodd

A man who allowed his bank account to be used as part of a scheme to defraud people looking for student accommodation in Limerick has been handed a suspended two-year prison sentence.

Having heard facts in the case in May 2024, Judge Sarah Berkeley told Martin Awoke (26) that she would adjourn the case to give him an opportunity to find work and raise compensation for the injured parties.

Awoke of Alexandra House, Tallaght, Dublin 24, pleaded guilty to handling the proceeds of crime on August 12, 2022. He has no previous convictions.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously heard that the two injured parties in this case were seeking student accommodation in Limerick and had made payments of €5,940 and €3,880, respectively.

Awoke’s role was limited to allowing his bank account to be used, and he had no involvement in the scheme itself, the court was told.

The total of €9,820 has not been recovered.

At a previous hearing in November, Judge Berkeley was informed that Awoke had saved €10,000 but had spent €3,000 to cover bills, as he wasn’t working.

The judge directed €7,000 to be handed over to the investigating garda and agreed to a further adjournment after hearing that Awoke had a job interview and was confident of saving the outstanding balance.

Today, the court heard that the outstanding amount had been repaid.

The court heard last May that Awoke told gardai a friend from Nigeria was trying to send another person to Ireland and asked to use his account to send funds for them.

Awoke said he withdrew the money in cash and handed this over.

The investigating garda told Diana Stuart, BL, prosecuting, that this account did not tally with the transactions in Awoke’s bank account, which showed that some cash had been withdrawn and a number of other transactions.

He was re-interviewed and gave a similar account to gardaí.

The witness agreed with defence counsel at an earlier sentence hearing that Awoke attended voluntarily for interview, was co-operative and has not come to recent garda attention.

Several references and a letter of apology were handed to the court.

Defence counsel asked the court for time for his client to raise compensation for the injured parties, which he hopes to do with the assistance of family members.

Judge Berkeley suggested Awoke could find a new job to raise compensation for the injured parties.

She noted that the injured parties in this case had lost their “hard-earned” money, which they were using to try to “send their children to college”.

Today, defence counsel said his client is working and has another offer of employment as a carer. An updated letter of apology was also handed in.

He asked the court to consider leaving his client without a conviction to allow him to take up employment as a carer.

Judge Berkeley declined this application, noting that the court appreciated the difficulties which may be faced by Awoke, but in the circumstances, he was “lucky not to be going into custody”.

The judge said while the amount of money might be considered small, it had a “big impact” on the injured parties.

Having considered Awoke’s personal circumstances, his early guilty plea, and expressions of remorse, Judge Berkeley imposed a sentence of two years, suspended on strict conditions.