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Home buyer lost most of their deposit after emails hacked, while money mule booked holiday
Summary
Christian Preston, aged 22, was sentenced by Judge Martin Nolan to a two‑year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to possessing €37,000 of proceeds of crime. The money had been transferred to his account when a home buyer's deposit was hacked during an email exchange with the buyer's solicitor in December 2019. Preston withdrew and spent about €1,200 on a holiday and made purchases of designer goods and Apple items from his account, though the identities of the purchasers were unknown. The bank recovered €16,200 of the funds after his account was frozen, leaving the victim with a loss of roughly €21,000. Preston was not the mastermind of the hacking operation and had no prior convictions. He was ordered to pay €2,500 to the victim within a year.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Home buyer lost most of their deposit after emails hacked, while money mule booked holiday. Charges or matters: one count of possessing the proceeds of crime – €37,000 – at Bank of Ireland, Marino, Dublin on December 19, 2019. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- December 19, 2019 Incident
- December 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2023-03-07 Publication
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: one count of possessing the proceeds of crime – €37,000 – at Bank of Ireland, Marino, Dublin on December 19, 2019 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Sentencing Christian Preston (22) today, Judge Martin Nolan said he had dealt with a "lamentable" number of similar cases in the courts. "It seems that a lot of young people can't withstand the temptation of a small reward," the judge noted, adding there was no doubt Preston knew his account was going to be used for illegal purposes. "Up to now I have not imprisoned these people," Judge Nolan said, before imposing a two-year suspended sentence. Judge Nolan imposed a two-year suspended sentence on Preston and ordered him to hand over a sum of €2,500 to the victim in the case within a year.
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