Teen convicted of money laundering for link to bogus phone sale online

Tom Tuite

A youth has been convicted of “money laundering” in Dublin after gardaí linked him to the bogus sale of an iPhone through an online advertiser.

The 17-year-old was found guilty at the Dublin Children’s Court of having €350 in crime proceeds in February 2021. He was caught after an investigating garda traced phone and bank records and trawled CCTV footage.

After contacting a seller via the adverts.ie site, the woman transferred her money to a bank account.

Judge Paul Kelly noted the woman had taken screenshots of all her interactions with the seller who blocked her after getting paid.

Garda Stephen O’Brien of Sundrive Road station obtained warrants to check the balance of a Permanent TSB account linked to the advertisement. His work revealed that the account had been paid €350 from the buyer’s AIB account.

The beneficiary also used the same contact details as the defendant and his photo ID, enabling the garda to trace him.

Gardaí also obtained CCTV footage of the teenager using an ATM with a card for the same account.

Denial

Judge Kelly praised the woman’s “foresight” in taking screenshots of her dealings with the seller.

The youth had denied the allegation, but following a contested hearing, Judge Kelly held the accounts clearly showing the transaction coming from the complainant.

In his view, the sequence of pieces of circumstantial evidence established the teen had a case to answer, the judge said.

The teenager, who had no prior criminal convictions, did not give evidence. The judge remarked the victim was still at a loss of €350, but defence solicitor Sandra Frayne said the teen was now willing to repay the amount.

Granting an adjournment, Judge Kelly said compensating the victim would influence how he would deal with the case.

The boy, accompanied to court by his mother, was remanded on continuing bail.

He cannot be named as he is a minor.