Judge gives gardaí 10 weeks to prepare evidence in €14m 'darknet' crypto case
Kevin Daniel Andrei, 24, of Drynam Avenue, Swords, was charged in August with three counts of possessing close to €600,000 in crime earnings under section seven of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing).
It follows a Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCB) probe.
Last week, Andrei was further charged with two extra offences: money laundering involving €13,745,756 proceeds of criminal conduct and facilitating 'darknet market' organised crime.
Detective Ciaran Byrne said the Director of Public Prosecutions had also directed trial on indictment.
He has been granted bail and appeared again at Dublin District Court today when defence solicitor Kate McGhee consented to a prosecution request for an adjournment.
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Judge Kelly ordered the accused to appear again on 25 July to be served with the book of evidence and sent forward for trial to a higher court.
He has yet to indicate a plea.
In the original three charges, he was accused of 'concealing and disguising the true nature and source of 65 Wirex transactions' totalling €22,049 between 3 March 2021 and 5 September 2022, at various locations.
According to another charge, between 26 February 2021 and 26 February 2024, he engaged in 'concealing and disguising the true nature and source of 1,822 Revolut transactions that were the proceeds of criminal conduct,' valued at €227,429.
The third claims he disguised the true nature and source of 422 separate Binance transactions worth €341,959 between 21 March 2021 and 20 December 2023 at various places in Ireland.
He has surrendered his passport and has to sign on three days a week at his local garda station.
He must not apply for a replacement passport or new travel documents, and has to reside at his current address, and always be contactable.
Andrei has also been warned 'not to carry out any cryptocurrency transactions' or comment about the case on public forums, including social media.
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Sunday World
3 days ago
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Teacher struck off register after defrauding colleagues out of €2,000 in ‘elaborate hoax'
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The payments were made in exchange for discounted Apple products which were never received. It was also proven that she had similarly obtained €1,102 by deception from a teacher at her school in September 2021. The panel separately found that the teacher had failed to repay a loan of approximately €1,000 obtained from her school's board of management in September 2021 as an advance on her salary, despite repeated requests for repayment. The panel also deemed an allegation that the teacher had driven off from an Applegreen service station on the M1 on September 22, 2021 without paying for €15 of fuel had been proven but found that it did not constitute professional misconduct or a breach of the profession's code of conduct. The findings were made on the basis of evidence of several witnesses from the school and Garda evidence from related criminal proceedings for which the teacher received the Probation Act and was spared a criminal conviction. 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4 days ago
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Schoolteacher who defrauded colleagues of €2,000 barred from teaching for at least five years
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