Richard Kearney jailed for role in €6.6m money laundering operation

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

Richard Kearney was jailed for three years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 29 January 2025. The proceedings were reported on 29 January 2025.

He pleaded guilty to possessing €25,000 at Fernwood Lawn, Tallaght, on 6 May 2022, knowing or being reckless as to whether it was the proceeds of crime.

Garda Vincent Jaffray said phone conversations suggested Kearney was responsible for laundering €6.6 million and £250,000 between April 2021 and May 2022. Judge Martin Nolan said phone evidence demonstrated that Kearney was involved in very substantial money laundering.

Defence counsel Ciara Ní Ghabhann said Kearney had struggled financially after a transfer reduced his Army wages. She said he was offered what he thought was a friendly loan before Christmas 2020, but found himself in over his head; threats followed and he had to become involved in money laundering as a result.

Judge Nolan reduced a six-year headline sentence to three years after considering mitigating features. The Defence Forces said Kearney’s commanding officer had initiated discharge proceedings, which were ongoing after the sentencing decision.