The Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin has sentenced a Nigerian man, Edward Evbagharu, to one year in prison for his role in money laundering in Ireland.
Evbagharu, 46, allowed his bank accounts to be used to defraud a man of €49,000 in a romance scam.
According to Irish Mirror, the Nigerian man living in Shackleton Exchange, Shackleton Drive, Lucan, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to money laundering between February 12, 2021 and June 9, 2021.
The report said the Nigerian, a security guard and a father of six children, had 11 previous convictions.
A detective, Barry Brennan of Store Street Garda Station, told the court that the victim, a French national, met a woman on an online dating site, who said she was from Saudi Arabia but was a refugee in Texas in the United States.
She told him that her father was rich, but because of her asylum status, she could not access €5m she had in an Irish bank account.
Believing her to be genuine, the injured party agreed to liaise with the woman’s lawyers, who asked him to make a number of payments over six months.
The court heard that the total amount taken was €49,188, none of which was recovered.
It also heard that €31,000 of the amount was paid through three of Evbagharu’s accounts with An Post, Ria Money Transfer, and TransferWis,e but these were controlled by two accomplices.
The victim became suspicious and spoke to a solicitor in France to say he thought he had been defrauded online.
Also, the complainant, who was in court, prepared a victim impact statement, which was handed to the judge but not read aloud.
The Nigerian’s legal counsel, Mr Pat O’Sullivan, said his client was working for a security company for the past 16 years and paying income tax and social security.
“He is a contributing member of society” and “wants to continue his work”, he said. He said his client was very anxious and would like to do community service.
He added that Evbagharu moved to Ireland in 2009 and became an Irish citizen in 2013. He has four children from his marriage and another two children from his nine-year relationship of nine years.
Ruling, Judge Dara Hayes handed down a two-year sentence and suspended the final year of it. The judge said there was no evidence that Evbagharu defrauded the injured party, but he was facilitating it.
Hayes noted Evbagharu had 11 previous convictions, including one for handling stolen property and 10 for road traffic offences.
The judge noted Evbagharu was not on bail at the time of this offence and accepted he was civil with the police.
The judge noted a substantial amount was transferred through his account, and handed him a one-year jail term.
