Woman to be sentenced for benefiting from An Post cyber attack

By Isabel Hayes

A woman who was involved in organised crime, including benefiting from an An Post cyber attack, will be sentenced in July after she has settled her affairs for her children, a Dublin court has heard.

Kim Porter (31) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 10 offences involving money laundering, deception, enhancing a criminal organisation, possession of cocaine and making off from a hotel without paying for her stay.

The court heard Porter fraudulently booked and travelled on Aer Lingus flights to Turkey, ran up a bill of nearly €2000 in a Dublin hotel before making off without paying. Porter was making fake UK driving licences on a laptop that was seized from her home.

The offences took place in various locations within the State between March 2023 and November 2024. Her co-accused and former partner, Brandon Abrahams, will be sentenced this Friday for his role which involved nearly €150,000 going through his various accounts.

Abrahams, of Belvedere Place, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to one count of participating or contributing to the activity of a criminal organisation contrary to section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006. He pleaded guilty to a further nine offences including money laundering, possessing proceeds of crime and possessing a false instrument during the same time period as Porter.

Garda Sean Deignan told Aoife McNickle BL, prosecuting, that gardai launched an investigation into a cyber attack on An Post in January 2024. The court heard that this attack involved smishing and phishing attacks during which account holders were contacted via SMS and then phoned and tricked into revealing their account details.

Money went into a total of 49 accounts, of which two in particular stood out to investigators involving fake UK aliases. These accounts were tracked back to Porter and Abrahams.

When the home Porter shared with Abrahams at Casement Park, Finglas, Dublin 11, was searched in March 2024, the keys to a Mercedes, a Revolut card and cocaine with a value of €500 were found concealed within her bra on her person, the court heard.

Porter was found to have received €5000 from the An Post cyber attack, while her Revolut account held about €16,000 which gardai believed were the proceeds of crime from her making fake UK driver licences and other documents.

A laptop which she used to make the fake identity documents was seized during the search, while her phone also gave further evidence of fraudulent transactions.

The Mercedes car which was parked in the drive had been purchased by Abrahams using proceeds of crime for the down payment, while the finance for it was obtained through fraudulent means, the court heard.

The couple also booked flights to Turkey using fraudulent means, but travelled under their real names. Porter also admitted buying wood flooring from Des Kelly and a drone from a Dublin shop using fraudulent means. She also rented Go Cars using a fake account.

The court heard the couple staying in a hotel in Dublin 4 on May 25, 2024, ran up a bill of €1929 and left the next morning without paying. They used a fake name.

Porter and Abrahams are no longer together, the court heard.

The court heard Porter has one previous conviction, also for making off without payment, dating from February 2023.

Defence counsel told the court that Porter has three young children from a former partner and had a difficult upbringing. She requested a Probation Service report to provide context to the court about her background.

Judge Baxter ordered a report and granted an adjournment for Porter to “get her affairs in order”. She noted these are serious charges. The matter will be finalised on July 13.