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The economic crime gardaí believe they are very close to finally dismantling the Irish branch of a sophisticated multinational fraud ring.
The gang, which is primarily made up of criminals from Nigeria and other areas of West Africa, consists of three elements spanning many countries.
One branch runs what one source called a “bewildering array” of financial scams across the European continent, while another launches the proceeds through Irish bank accounts. A third branch, based in Nigeria, draws the money there.
Gardaí from the National Economic Crimes Office (GNECB) believes the gang laundered € 14.6 million in stolen money through Irish accounts over a two-year period between 2015 and 2017.
On Monday, GNECB agents arrested a man and a woman, both in their 20s, as part of the investigation. The male is believed to be one of the leaders of the gang in Ireland.
They were the sixth and seventh arrests under what the Gardaí have called Operation Joggle, established about two years ago specifically to target the gang.
A small number of gang members have yet to be arrested and interviewed, but Gardaí is confident that they will soon be able to send a file to the Director of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and begin taking important cases to court.
The man is currently being interviewed at the Dundalk Garda station, where he can be held for up to seven days. The woman, who is also at Dundalk Garda station, can be questioned for up to 24 hours.
“These arrests are part of Operation Joggle, which is an ongoing investigation into a West African organized crime gang (OCG) suspected of being involved in trade-based money laundering worth an estimated $ 14.6 million. euros for a period of two years “. the Garda said in a statement.
The gang has been involved in “all kinds of fraud, across Europe,” a source said. This included invoice redirection scams in which companies are tricked into sending payments to bogus vendors and CEO scams, in which scammers trick employees into turning over data or funds by posing as their managers.
The gang has also been involved in widespread romance scams, soliciting money from people on dating sites, and has created several bogus websites that fraudulently claim to sell products or services.
“Most, if not all, of these crimes involved victims from outside of Ireland,” said a source. “It was a huge operation.”
The defrauded money was later laundered through Irish bank accounts by gang members who live here. In some cases, money mules were used to launder the cash through their own accounts.
The gang used youth of various nationalities as money mules. They were paid small amounts of money to put the stolen cash into their accounts before transferring it back. The money is then usually moved via bank transfers to West Africa.
Earlier this year, a man from Eastern Europe was arrested for allowing the gang to use his account.
Operation Joggle has led to records of at least 17 installations in recent years in Dublin, Louth, Meath, Kildare and Laois counties. These searches, some of which were supported by the Armed Support Unit, revealed significant amounts of documents and electronic evidence consistent with money laundering activity.
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