A 34-year-old man involved in money-laundering over €12,000 through his bank account in Cork was remanded in custody as the judge said he was not like a teenager committing the crime after having his head turned by a Snapchat conversation.

Detective Garda Cormac Crotty said the fraud was carried out in November 2019 when a metal company in Indiana in the US was duped into transferring €12,000 to the man’s account.

Marcel Munteanu, of TJ Murphy Terrace, Old Waterpark, Carrigaline, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to the money-laundering charge at Cork Circuit Criminal Court and claimed he only benefitted personally to the tune of €500.

Det Garda Crotty said Munteanu opened a new Ulster Bank account on Patrick St, Cork, on September 24, 2019.

Within a few weeks, on November 4, €12,351 was transferred out of the company’s account in Indiana. As soon as the money landed in his account, Munteanu withdrew €500.

There followed three electronic transfers of sums of €7,850, €2,400, and €1,380 to three separate accounts and none of the monies was ever recovered.

“He made €500...he told us. This was part of a larger more sophisticated set-up,” the detective testified.

He said the chief financial controller’s computer in the Indiana company was hacked and payments due from the company were fraudulently diverted to a number of different accounts. While over €12,000 was sent to Munteanu’s account, the total loss to the company in the frauds perpetrated at that time amounted to $93,000. The bulk of the money was sent to Singapore.

Munteanu has been living in Ireland for 14 years and worked as a delivery driver. Det Garda Crotty said the married father of three did not have trappings of wealth and had no relevant previous convictions.

Brian Leahy, defending, said from limited resources, Munteanu brought €500 to court as compensation for what he got from the crime. He submitted that a plea of guilty was valuable in a fraud case which often involved complicated proofs.

“He has minor Road Traffic Act convictions, nothing for theft, none for offences of dishonesty. This was a very silly or stupid thing from which he has learned his lesson,” Mr Leahy said.

The barrister urged the judge to impose a non-custodial sentence.

Judge Boyle said many people coming before the courts for this type of offence were teenagers “whose heads are turned by a Snapchat conversation or something like that”.

Mr Leahy said Munteanu would try to gather more compensation. Sinead Behan, prosecuting, said the State would be concerned about where this compensation would come from given that Munteanu’s income was limited to social welfare. Ms Behan asked the judge if he would be remanded in custody for an adjourned sentence.

The judge said: “I will remand him in custody. This man is not the teenager whose head is turned. Also, I am not entirely convinced he only got €500 from this. He facilitated the loss of over €12,000.”

Judge Boyle remanded him in custody for sentencing on February 10. The accused pleaded guilty to money-laundering on November 5 and 6, 2019, through his account at Ulster Bank, 88 St Patrick St, Cork, where he used the proceeds of criminal conduct, namely €12,351.