10 people charged in relation to alleged money laundering
Gardaí have charged 10 people in relation to alleged money laundering offences.
The three men and seven women were arrested as part of ongoing investigations in the Dublin Metropolitan Region North Division targeting a web of laundering money, believed to be directly acquired through criminal enterprises.
Advertisement
All the men are aged in their 20s, while six of the women are in their 20s and one is in her 30s.
They were charged by gardaí attached to the Balbriggan Economic Crime Unit with alleged money laundering offences contrary to the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act, 2010.
They're due before Balbriggan District Court at 10.30am on Thursday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
'Overwhelming' evidence former Barclays boss Jes Staley was 'close' to notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, tribunal rules
There is 'overwhelming' evidence that former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley had a close relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, a tribunal has ruled. Mr Staley was fined £1.8 million and banned from holding senior roles in the financial sector by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2023, after it found that he misled the regulator over the nature of his relationship with the financier. The American challenged the ban and the fine at the Upper Tribunal in London, with his lawyers saying that he 'never attempted to conceal his relationship with Mr Epstein', which the banker described as 'professionally fairly close' but not 'personally close'. The FCA opposed the challenge, telling a hearing held in March and April that Mr Staley and Epstein had a 'friendship'. In a unanimous decision on Thursday, Upper Tribunal judge Tim Herrington and tribunal members Martin Fraenkel and Cathy Farquharson dismissed Mr Staley's challenge, but reduced the fine to £1,107,306.92. They said: 'We regard the distinction between a close relationship which arises out of personal friendship and one that arises out of a professional relationship as being fallacious.' They continued: 'In our view, the evidence that Mr Staley had a close relationship with Mr Epstein is overwhelming and there was no evidence before us to suggest that many others had a relationship which was similar in nature to that we have found existed between Mr Staley and Mr Epstein.' They added: 'In our view, there is no basis on which Mr Staley could have drawn the conclusion that inclusion of the 'no close relationship language' was accurate.' Mr Staley acted as a private banker to Epstein during his time at JP Morgan, where he worked for more than 30 years before joining Barclays in 2015. In 2019, Epstein was arrested again after being jailed for child sex offences in 2008. He died in prison later that year while awaiting trial for sex trafficking offences. Leigh-Ann Mulcahy KC, for the FCA, told the tribunal in written submissions that the watchdog contacted Barclays in August 2019 for an 'assurance' that the bank's board had 'informed itself of and was comfortable regarding any association of Mr Staley or Barclays with Mr Epstein'. In a letter written to the FCA, approved by Mr Staley, Barclays chairman Nigel Higgins said 'Jes has confirmed to us that he did not have a close relationship with Mr Epstein' and that 'Jes' last contact with Mr Epstein was well before he joined Barclays' in 2015. The authority found that the letter was misleading and that Mr Staley acted 'recklessly and without integrity' by allowing it to be sent, with Ms Mulcahy telling the hearing that the pair maintained contact through Mr Staley's daughter up to at least February 2017. The barrister said emails showed Mr Staley describing Epstein as like 'family' and one of his 'deepest' and 'most cherished' friends, and that between March 2016 and February 2017, Mr Staley's daughter, Alexa Staley, was used as an intermediary. In a witness statement, Mr Staley told the tribunal that he would describe his relationship with Epstein as 'professionally fairly close' and that his reputation had been 'irretrievably damaged'. He said: 'It was a professional relationship which was predicated upon business. We were not personal friends, nor were we personally close.' Giving evidence in person at the tribunal, Mr Staley said he 'was not aware' of Epstein's abuse. He said: 'I think it was important to emphasise that it was a professional relationship because I think somebody with a very close personal relationship more than likely would have been aware.' In written submissions, Robert Smith KC, for Mr Staley, said that it would be 'entirely illogical' to conclude that Mr Staley would have approved the letter if he believed it was inaccurate or would mislead the regulator. But in their 93-page ruling, Judge Herrington, Mr Fraenkel and Ms Farquharson said it was 'not credible that Mr Staley did not think that the letter would mislead' the FCA. They continued that they 'would have expected Mr Staley to have been particularly careful' in ensuring the letter was accurate, and that his breaches of FCA rules were 'a serious failure of judgment'. The judges concluded that they saw 'no basis on which we should interfere' with the decision to ban Mr Staley, who they said had 'shown no remorse for his conduct'. But they reduced Mr Staley's fine to reflect the fact that, after the FCA published its decision in 2023, Barclays prevented him from deferring shares to which he could have been entitled. Following the ruling, Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: 'Mr Staley chose to take a calculated risk that we would take his inaccurate account of his relationship with Mr Epstein at face value. 'He hoped that the truth would never come to light and that he would get away with it. Such a serious lack of integrity flies in the face of the requirements we place on those at the top. 'The tribunal's decision shows that we can and will act to protect the financial system by holding those in senior roles to the high standards required of them.' The FCA added that Mr Staley has 14 days in which to appeal against the ruling.
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Assets linked to alleged Kinahan associate deemed proceeds of crime by High Court
Assets belonging to an alleged Kinahan organised crime group associate who once resided in an affluent south Dublin suburb have been deemed by the High Court to be the proceeds of crime. The Criminal Assets Bureau claim Ciaran O'Sullivan (50), who previously resided on Adelaide Road in Glenageary, is known to multiple law enforcement agencies as a transnational drug trafficker for over 20 years, and has lived a lavish lifestyle despite having no legitimate source of income. Advertisement The bureau cites Mr O'Sullivan's daughters' attendance at an exclusive Swiss finishing school, Surval Montreux, as an indicator of this lifestyle. On Wednesday, barrister Jim Benson, for the bureau, sought orders related to assets linked to Mr O'Sullivan, which were seized during searches of properties connected to him in June 2020. Among the assets seized were various devices recovered during his Glenageary address, including iPhones, Google Pixel phones and Samsung tablets. It is the bureau's case that Mr O'Sullivan was involved in the supply of EncroChat devices, and that these devices were held by Mr O'Sullivan to this end. Advertisement EncroChat is a now-defunct encrypted messaging service favoured by those involved in organised crime. Other items seized included luxury watches, a Louis Vuitton briefcase, €3,060 cash and a gold bullion cold. Mr Justice Alexander Owens said he was satisfied these assets were the proceeds of crime, granting the orders sought by the bureau under section 3 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996. The judge refused to make the order sought in relation to €16,350 held in a bank account held under Mr O'Sullivan's aunt's name. Advertisement The court heard evidence that this account was used to pay for Mr O'Sullivan's daughter's Swiss school fees. Ireland Members of Kinahan crime gang should be 'very worr... Read More Mr Justice Owens said the net effect of granting orders sought relating to the bank account would be to take money from the pension of an elderly woman, and that this would be 'unfair'. In making his orders, Mr Justice Owens noted evidence submitted on Mr O'Sullivan's connections to a Chinese money laundering gang, who have provided services to the Kinahan organised crime group. In the 2000s, Mr O'Sullivan was targeted and arrested in joint Irish and Dutch police operations focusing on the activities of the Kinahan organised crime group, the bureau allege. Mr O'Sullivan has not lived in Ireland for some time, the court heard. He has no criminal convictions in Ireland, but was convicted of two separate drug related offences in Spain and the Netherlands.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Ex-Barclays boss Jes Staley loses job ban tribunal case
Former Barclays boss Jes Staley has lost a legal challenge against a decision to ban him from top financial jobs in the UK over his links to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Staley was forced out in November 2021 after UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), found he had failed to accurately disclose the nature and length of his relationship with Epstein to the Barclays board and the FCA in had been seeking to overturn the 2023 decision by the regulator to ban him and fine him £1.8m, arguing that he had "never attempted to conceal his relationship with Mr Epstein".London's Upper Tribunal dismissed the challenge on Thursday, but it lowered the fine to £1.1m. During the hearing Mr Staley, who ran Barclays from 2015 to 2021, told the tribunal that he had a close professional association with Epstein, but not a close personal was found to have killed himself in 2019 while in prison awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He was previously convicted in 2008 for soliciting sex from a minor and sentenced to 13 months in Staley told the tribunal he had no idea about Epstein's "monstrous activities".He said he was disappointed with the decision but welcomed the tribunal accepting that he was not dishonest."I have worked tirelessly for my prior employers for the entirety of my career," he said."I am proud of the support I gave to many individuals during that career and the strategy I developed to help Barclays when it faced immense challenges." The case centred on a 2019 letter sent by Barclays chair Nigel Higgins to the FCA, which the regulator said contained two misleading statements: that Staley "did not have a close relationship" with Epstein and that their last contact was "well before he joined Barclays in 2015".The FCA said that although he did not draft it personally, Mr Staley had "recklessly" approved the Staley, however, told the tribunal both statements were accurate and that his "close business relationship" with Epstein diminished after he left his previous employer JPMorgan, where Epstein was once a Staley had worked at the US investment bank for three decades, including heading up its asset and wealth management said the last time he physically met Epstein was in April 2015. Although Mr Staley said his relationship with Epstein was "not close", a cache of emails released by JPMorgan suggested the exchanges described time spent together at Epstein's properties in New York and on his private island in the US Virgin Islands, and showed Mr Staley had described Epstein as one of his "deepest" and "most cherished" a now infamous email thread Mr Staley remarked to Epstein: "That was fun, say 'Hi' to Snow White". Epstein replied: "What character would you like next?" To which Mr Staley responded: "Beauty and the beast!"In addition, the emails showed Mr Staley had been in contact with Epstein in the days leading up to his appointment as Barclays chief executive being announced on 28 October Staley has consistently denied knowing anything about Epstein's crimes.
