Ashley Lucas pleads guilty to money laundering in Dublin

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Ashley Lucas pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of money laundering. The proceedings were reported on 15 December 2017.

The offence involved setting up a bank account at AIB’s Drogheda branch on 24 March 2015. The court heard that Marlene Lienau had transferred €1,040 for a room in Booterstown. When she arrived in Dublin on 3 September 2015, she found there was no such room.

The account was linked to a co-accused, who admitted opening it using her passport and a false utility bill and led gardaí to Lucas. Lucas told gardaí he did not know Ms Lienau and that a Nigerian man in the UK had asked him to set up an account, telling him everything was above board.

On 15 December 2017, Judge Karen O’Connor noted that Lucas had provided €1,400 in redress and had not come to further Garda attention. She adjourned the case to February for an assessment of his suitability for community service and indicated that she would order 240 hours in lieu of three years’ imprisonment.

The co-accused had previously pleaded guilty to using a false utility bill on 24 March 2015 and had already received an 18-month suspended sentence.