Ireland’s National Police and Security Service (Gardaí) are advising the public, especially youngsters, to not allow anyone else to use their bank accounts. Earlier, the authorities arrested a man in his early 20s for allowing the transfer of a huge sum of money through his account.
Money-launderers were allegedly using the detainee a “money mule” – someone recruited by financial criminals to launder illegal money through their bank account, knowingly or unknowingly. AML regulations ensure that perpetrators of organized crime cannot set up their own bank accounts. Therefore, criminals promise “money mules” a share of the laundered proceeds in return for letting them use their accounts. Those allowing these criminals to use their bank accounts for illegal transactions become complicit to the crimes.
Criminals often selectively target young people, particularly students, who are easy to lure into the scheme online, on college campuses or elsewhere. The police have advised everyone to not let anyone else use their bank account. People should refrain from sharing private bank account details with anyone. Moreover, they should not conduct any transactions with unknown people. Lastly, people must report any contact by the “recruiters” to the police immediately.
