Credit union in Donegal fined over €36k for breach of anti-money-laundering laws

Anne O'Loughlin

A credit union which was found to have breached the requirements of anti-money-laundering law has been fined over €36,000 by the Central Bank.

The President of the High Court on Monday confirmed the sanction by the Central Bank on Swilly Mulroy Credit Union, Co Donegal, which also includes a reprimand.

Mr Justice David Barniville noted the credit union accepted there were breaches of certain provisions of the legislation, and it admitted to a number of contraventions between 2014 and 2021.

The issue came to light during an inspection by the Central Bank Anti Money Laundering Division in 2022.

According to the Central Bank, its investigation found that Swilly Mulroy Credit Union operated a practice of soliciting and accepting cash from depositors, the majority of whom did not hold accounts with the credit union.

This money would then be electronically transferred to a branch of a local bank, without first being deposited in an account in the customer's name at Swilly Mulroy.

The Central Bank said that as a result, Swilly Mulroy failed to conduct the necessary anti-money laundering checks on the depositors and the transactions.

The probe found that Swilly Mulroy operated in this way between January 2nd, 2014 and June 30th, 2021, during which time it processed €8,751,694 in deposits from 2,329 cash lodgements.

The High Court heard that a new management team in 2021 ceased the practice.

Mr Justice David Barnville said the monetary penalty of €36,273 must be paid within seven days.