Large Nigerian gang in Ireland involved in worldwide money laundering

Kivaro · 07-09-2018 07:08AM #1

You might have seen in the news yesterday the story about the large Nigerian money-laundering network operating in Ireland. It was the scope of the operation that surprised me.

A Nigerian national living in Ireland was the leader of the gang and he recruited over 100 fellow Nigerian nationals in Ireland to launder money which has been stolen in invoice redirection frauds from companies in Ireland and all around Europe. 15 homes in 5 counties across the country were raided by over 100 Gardai and high-priced items like Nissan X-Trail SUVs were removed from these premises. Gardaí have asked the banks in Ireland to close around 350 accounts suspected of being used in the fraud.
When describing the suspects in the case, the Garda Superintendent said that "Some of these people are working, some are on social welfare."

There are a number of questions to be asked when you read about the details of the case, for example, why were they no arrests made knowing that the Nigerian suspects who could easily abscond, and what is the situation with the Irish bank accounts of the non-nationals?

Watching the 6.1 RTE news yesterday, there was not one mention of the word "Nigerian/Nigeria"; they kept saying West African gang. I wonder if it is the same on the RTE website? I gave up on that site a long time ago because of their weird bias on news.
More information on the story can be found here.

Avatar MIA · 07-09-2018 07:13AM

The last thing we need is a 100 Nigerian Princes banged up, costing us a fortune. Deport them.

Working class heroes · 07-09-2018 07:23AM

Hitler racists the lot of ya.

Pintman Paddy Losty · 07-09-2018 07:25AM

None of the west African taxi men I have had the misfortune of being a passenger of had a Nissan X trail unfortunately. Normally its a 98 Toyota corolla that stinks to high heaven and has African Christian gospel music playing on the CD player.

duffysfarm · 07-09-2018 07:25AM

I would say deport anyone found guilty also but not in this country. Going to cost the tax payer a small fortune in free legal aid.

Signore Fancy Pants · 07-09-2018 07:29AM

If you move to our country and are being a bold boy or girl.

You get a 1 way ticket to whereeverthefcukville.

Out ye shams!

enricoh · 07-09-2018 07:32AM

Earlier this year, the Minister for Justice, Charlie Flanagan confirmed that the budget for direct provision accommodation will increase to €66 million this year.

This coincided with a 62% increase in people seeking asylum seeker in the first quarter compared to the corresponding period in 2017.

^^ every little helps! Now work a bit harder n pay plenty of tax so we can afford to give all of the above a gaff. N one or two more when the family reunification takes place.
Rte n AAA/pbp need an endless loop between now and the budget about the housing crisis to ensure every penny goes towards housing.

Sciprio · 07-09-2018 07:40AM

Kivaro wrote: »

You might have seen in the news yesterday the story about the large Nigerian money-laundering network operating in Ireland. It was the scope of the operation that surprised me.

A Nigerian national living in Ireland was the leader of the gang and he recruited over 100 fellow Nigerian nationals in Ireland to launder money which has been stolen in invoice redirection frauds from companies in Ireland and all around Europe. 15 homes in 5 counties across the country were raided by over 100 Gardai and high-priced items like Nissan X-Trail SUVs were removed from these premises. Gardaí have asked the banks in Ireland to close around 350 accounts suspected of being used in the fraud.
When describing the suspects in the case, the Garda Superintendent said that "Some of these people are working, some are on social welfare."

There are a number of questions to be asked when you read about the details of the case, for example, why were they no arrests made knowing that the Nigerian suspects who could easily abscond, and what is the situation with the Irish bank accounts of the non-nationals?

Watching the 6.1 RTE news yesterday, there was not one mention of the word "Nigerian/Nigeria"; they kept saying West African gang. I wonder if it is the same on the RTE website? I gave up on that site a long time ago because of their weird bias on news.
More information on the story can be found here.

Nothing wrong with genuine immigration but the people who shout the most for this "Cultural enrichment " are the ones who are sealed off the most. Ask Bob Geldoff has he taken in his share like he preached he would?

Like my father a 78 year old man, every month for the last 15 years he donates money for homeless out of his army pension. It is a nice cause but not up to him.

Phoebas · 07-09-2018 07:43AM

Kivaro wrote: »

Watching the 6.1 RTE news yesterday, there was not one mention of the word "Nigerian/Nigeria"; they kept saying West African gang. I wonder if it is the same on the RTE website? I gave up on that site a long time ago because of their weird bias on news

Maybe because the network is wider than just Nigeria.
From the report that you referenced:

He told the Irish Independent that the network spans a number of different countries.

"There is a core group who organised this money laundering operation who were the targets in the raids.

"They got lots of others, mainly from west Africa, who were recruited to open bank accounts for this purpose.

Peregrinus · 07-09-2018 07:47AM

What Phoebas said. And also maybe because the question of where the perpetrators come from is the least interesting and relevant part of the story. Would this be any less of a problem if the perpetrators were from Newtownmountkennedy rather than from Nigeria, or from West Cork rather than from West Africa?

Mookie Blaylock · 07-09-2018 07:49AM

Peregrinus wrote: »

What Phoebas said. And also maybe because the question of where the perpetrators come from is the least interesting and relevant part of the story. Would this be any less of a problem if the perpetrators were from Newtownmountkennedy rather than from Nigeria, or from West Cork rather than from West Africa?

I think that the fact a major criminal was allowed into Ireland and set up a network of criminals that is going to cost us million's in deportation and court fees is the main issue....could be Nigeria, America, Greenland for all I care...

Peregrinus · 07-09-2018 07:51AM

Mookie Blaylock wrote: »

I think that the fact a major criminal was allowed into Ireland and set up a network of criminals that is going to cost us million's in deportation and court fees is the main issue....could be Nigeria, America, Greenland for all I care...

It would cost us much more if the "major criminal" and his network were Irish citizens, since we'd then be carrying the cost of the prison sentences, which would dwarf the costs you mention.

VonZan · 07-09-2018 07:51AM

Peregrinus wrote: »

What Phoebas said. And also maybe because the question of where the perpetrators come from is the least interesting and relevant part of the story. Would this be any less of a problem if the perpetrators were from Newtownmountkennedy rather than from Nigeria, or from West Cork rather than from West Africa?

Why isn't it relevant? It's very relevant. Don't you think a foreign gang being allowed to enter, reside and steal money in Ireland and elsewhere is not an issue?

Some people are away with the fairies.

Kivaro · 07-09-2018 07:55AM

Phoebas wrote: »

Maybe because the network is wider than just Nigeria.
From the report that you referenced:

Yes, but the gang is predominantly Nigerian and the gang leader is Nigerian:

A Nigerian national living in Ireland was the leader of the gang and he recruited over 100 fellow Nigerian nationals in Ireland

If RTE had reported the full story including above and that they recruited other West Africans, then it would have been a more accurate report. The glaring omission causes people to ask why RTE has to omit this in the first place.

Phoebas · 07-09-2018 07:55AM

VonZan wrote: »

Why isn't it relevant? It's very relevant. Don't you think a foreign gang being allowed to enter, reside and steal money in Ireland and elsewhere is not an issue?

Some people are away with the fairies.

I don't think they were 'allowed' to do it.

Bob Harris · 07-09-2018 07:56AM

enricoh wrote: »

Earlier this year, the Minister for Justice, Charlie Flanagan confirmed that the budget for direct provision accommodation will increase to €66 million this year.

This coincided with a 62% increase in people seeking asylum seeker in the first quarter compared to the corresponding period in 2017.

^^ every little helps! Now work a bit harder n pay plenty of tax so we can afford to give all of the above a gaff. N one or two more when the family reunification takes place.
Rte n AAA/pbp need an endless loop between now and the budget about the housing crisis to ensure every penny goes towards housing.

Might have to work very hard as the current population of Nigeria is 195m projected to rise to over 400m by 2050.

Kivaro · 07-09-2018 08:00AM

Peregrinus wrote: »

It would cost us much more if the "major criminal" and his network were Irish citizens, since we'd then be carrying the cost of the prison sentences, which would dwarf the costs you mention.

This is really a warped view.
You're almost saying we're lucky it was a large gang of Nigerians/West Africans in Ireland that perpetrated this crime because they will abscond and will serve no time; hence costing the Irish tax payer a great deal less.

screamer · 07-09-2018 08:00AM

It just shows how gullible we are as a nation. Bunch of ejits just taking in every hard luck and sob story....and the criminals laugh at us. Soft ejits.
Let's face it even when caught red handed the criminal justice system here is so far from just...there are stupidly low if any sentences at all even for the worst crimes, so of course we're gonna attract all kinds of chancers and crims both home grown and foreign flavoured

Mookie Blaylock · 07-09-2018 08:03AM

Peregrinus wrote: »

It would cost us much more if the "major criminal" and his network were Irish citizens, since we'd then be carrying the cost of the prison sentences, which would dwarf the costs you mention.

Chances are it won't...as happens with Eastern European gangs, members get deported...and are back in the country with 96 hours...not sure if western African gangs do the same thing... but wouldn't bet against it

Peregrinus · 07-09-2018 08:05AM

VonZan wrote: »

Why isn't it relevant? It's very relevant. Don't you think a foreign gang being allowed to enter, reside and steal money in Ireland and elsewhere is not an issue?

The problem is not the foreigness; it's the theft. This is equally problematic whether the perpetrators are foreigners or locals.

VonZan wrote: »

Some people are away with the fairies.

And some people are obsessed with race, ethnicity and migration.

Peregrinus · 07-09-2018 08:07AM

Kivaro wrote: »

This is really a warped view.
You're almost saying we're lucky it was a large gang of Nigerians/West Africans in Ireland that perpetrated this crime because they will abscond and will serve no time; hence costing the Irish tax payer a great deal less.

I'm not saying we're luck at all; I'm just saying that Mookie Blaylock's focus on the cost to us is bizarre, given that the cost to us is less, not more.

CeilingFly · 07-09-2018 08:10AM

How about a swap - we send the Nigerians to the UK, Holland & Spain and those countries send the Irish criminal gangs, esp Traveller gangs, back here?

Criminal gangs are mobile - thankfully we don't see the worst of them. The UK are under a wave of criminal gangs at present and one of the major ones involved in cash in transit and cash machine destruction are an Irish traveller gang.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/prolific-irish-burglary-gang-suspected-of-causing-chaos-in-uk-37078428.html

Fr_Dougal · 07-09-2018 08:10AM

Idonbelieveit.

bigpink · 07-09-2018 08:11AM

Are we surprised with all the dodgy Africans in this country

arybvtcw0eolkf · 07-09-2018 08:22AM

Nothing new here.

About 15 years ago I was on duty one night, I was talking to my wife on the telephone when she tell's me there's a knock on the door (it was about eight o'clock in the evening).

She comes back and tells me there are detectives here with a search warrant for the house. I told her not to let them in until I came home (I was going to get a relief).

[long story short]

Garda gets on the phone to me to reassure me that there's nothing to worry about and that the house wasn't being searched.

He explained that they had four Nigerians arrested in Clontarf and Raheny Garda stations for fraud.

The Nigerians were claiming my house to be a nursing home for twelve elderly patients, he (the detective) explained that he knew it wasn't a nursing home but for his investigation he was simply going to walk through my downstairs, establish its not a nursing home and he'd be back on the phone very shortly.

About 30 seconds later he was back, apologized for concerning us and that was the last we'd hear of it.

I still get a laugh from it.

Beechwoodspark · 07-09-2018 08:42AM

I still can’t get my head around Nigerians getting asylum in Ireland- the most westerly island of all European countries.

I thought the rule was you have to claim asylum in the first “safe country” you arrive into and as far as I know there’s no direct flights between here and Nigeria and never was.

No doubt this criminal gang had great stories to tell in order to get asylum here

Hitman3000 · 07-09-2018 08:47AM

Beechwoodspark wrote:

I still canâ€™t get my head around Nigerians getting asylum in Ireland- the most westerly island of all European countries.

I remember several years an interview with the then Nigerian prime minister describing Ireland as a province of Nigeria. As when most sought asylum here there was no direct flights between Ireland and Nigeria.

Corb_lund · 07-09-2018 08:49AM

Plan is going great.

>shout down those saying it might cause issues
>let a substantial amount in, have social welfare set up encouraging large amounts of children
>people query rising crimes, feeling alienated in their own communities
>tell them they're citizens now, what can be done?

Rinse and repeat.

looksee · 07-09-2018 08:53AM

When we wanted to open an additional bank account (additional to the current and savings accounts we had) with Bank of Ireland both my husband and myself had to present ourselves - even though he was long term sick - at the bank where we had been regular customers for some 20 years. Both of us had to have passports and individual evidence of residence, even though the bank official knew us both from years of contact.

When my daughter came back from the UK where she had been a student/working for some 5 years she had to have proof of residence and as far as I recall proof of having lived here previously. She ended up going to the credit union and reviving a dormant account showing her address as the same as mine (childhood home), using this as evidence in the bank, opening an account then getting it transferred to where she was living. If she had not happened to have this dormant account I cannot see how she would have managed to get established here.

She could not get funds (rent deposit for one) transferred from the UK until she had this in place. She had no entitlement to any social services support for 6 months. She could not get accommodation without a bank account, and vice versa. It was pretty much impossible to function without a bank account and an address. I can't remember all the details but it is hard to see how someone coming into the country can just get a bank account and function as a resident.

What is the point in annoying the rest of us with all these detailed rules and regulations if people can just come in and do as they please? Will there be any sort of enquiry as to how they got the bank accounts they were using for nefarious purposes?

Captain Obvious · 07-09-2018 08:55AM

Shepherd Jealous Superpower wrote: »

She comes back and tells me there are detectives here with a search warrant for the house. I told her not to let them in until I came home (I was going to get a relief).

A warrant doesn't come with that option.

Kivaro wrote: »

There are a number of questions to be asked when you read about the details of the case, for example, why were they no arrests made knowing that the Nigerian suspects who could easily abscond, and what is the situation with the Irish bank accounts of the non-nationals?

Once an arrest is made, Gardaí have only 24 hours to question someone about a fraud before they must charge them or release them. It is necessary to have all evidence ready to put to a person before arresting them. If additional evidence is found during a search it is sometimes necessary to hold off on the arrest to allow time to examine the new evidence.

weldoninhio · 07-09-2018 09:02AM

CeilingFly wrote: »

How about a swap - we send the Nigerians to the UK, Holland & Spain and those countries send the Irish criminal gangs, esp Traveller gangs, back here?

Criminal gangs are mobile - thankfully we don't see the worst of them. The UK are under a wave of criminal gangs at present and one of the major ones involved in cash in transit and cash machine destruction are an Irish traveller gang.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/prolific-irish-burglary-gang-suspected-of-causing-chaos-in-uk-37078428.html

You do know that "Irish travellers" don't necessarily come from Ireland. Much the same way not all Roma are Romanian.

Large Nigerian gang in Ireland involved in worldwide money laundering

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