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Nigerian who handled stolen money from Mexican account pleads with judge
Summary
In the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Adebowale Okunade, 41, pleaded guilty to possessing the proceeds of crime and to four counts of dishonestly appropriating money from Dunboyne Credit Union and Waterford Credit Union between 14 November and 19 December 2014, as well as to using an electricity bill in another name to open a Ballyfermot Credit Union account on 15 December 2014. Okunade admitted that he had transferred €27,127 from a Bank of Ireland account into his own account in September 2014, and that the money originally came from a Mexican woman's brokerage account, which had been stolen. He exploited a "glitch" in the credit union system, using compromised credit cards to lodge and withdraw money, resulting in a total loss of €13,950 to the credit unions. Judge Melanie Greally sentenced him to three years' imprisonment for possessing the proceeds of crime, suspending the final 12 months of the term.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Nigerian who handled stolen money from Mexican account pleads with judge. Charges or matters: possessing the proceeds of crime on October 28, 2014 and to four counts of dishonestly appropriating money from Dunboyne Credit Union and Waterford Credit Union between November 14, 2014 and December 19, 2014; using an electricity bill in another name to open another account at Ballyfermot Credit Union on December 15, 2014. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- October 28, 2014 Incident
- November 14, 2014 Incident
- December 19, 2014 Incident
- December 15, 2014 Hearing Or Sentence
- September 2014 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 2014 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 30 Hearing Or Sentence
- December 2014 Other
- 2016-07-12 Publication
Why: "Because the credit unions didn't operate a chip and pin system, they had to suffer the loss," Gda Lynch said. CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: possessing the proceeds of crime on October 28, 2014 and to four counts of dishonestly appropriating money from Dunboyne Credit Union and Waterford Credit Union between November 14, 2014 and December 19, 2014; using an electricity bill in another name to open another account at Ballyfermot Credit Union on December 15, 2014 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Mr Le Vert said Okunade, who is originally from Nigeria but has lived in Ireland for 15 years, had no previous criminal convictions and only got €5000 from the crime. "This is entirely out of character for him," Mr Le Vert said. "He is terrified at the prospect that may await him." Judge Greally said it was not an opportunistic crime. "Due to a weakness in the credit union system of not demanding a chip and pin, the accused managed to exploit this deficiency and make significant transfers," she said. "This was a well-planned and systematic exploitation of a glitch and deficiency in the credit
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