Kerry judge hands suspended sentence to man guilty of money laundering for criminal gangs
The KerrymanA man has been sentenced at Tralee District Court for laundering €7,250 for criminal gangs that had defrauded people.
The court heard that Dominik Bihari (23) of 69 Gelbelands, Carlow Road, Athy, Kildare was approached by a stranger in Dublin and asked if he would let money be transferred to his account in exchange for a nominal fee.
The Bank of Ireland was alerted to suspicious transfers of €3,000, €2,300 and €1,950 into his account on August 26, 2024 at Castle Street, Tralee.
The money had been defrauded from people by criminal gangs, Sergeant Chris Manton told the court.
The bank reimbursed the persons defrauded and was now at a loss, he said.
Mr Bihari had three previous convictions and was on a suspended sentence at the time for a 2023 conviction of assault causing harm.
Solicitor Pat Mann told the court his client was “very forthcoming” with the investigation when Sgt McMahon went to Kildare to meet his client.
“Somebody had approached him in Dublin and asked, in his words, if he was interested in making a few quid,” said Mr Mann.
His client agreed “without knowing any of the facts behind it”, said the solicitor.
“He made absolutely nothing out of it,” said Mr Mann. “At the end of the day, he got a pile of hassle on top of him.”
Judge David Waters was unconvinced, noting he was approached by a man who didn’t give his name.
“He knew very well,” he said. “He knew exactly where this was going.”
The judge added, “He was facilitating criminal gangs who were defrauding people.”
He sentenced Mr Bihari to five months prison for all three charges, to run concurrently.
The sentence is suspended for two years.
“He needs to keep himself squeaky clean,” said Judge Waters.
Mr Bihari will return to court to address the breach of his 2023 suspended sentence.