Single mother received €400 for her part in Louth money laundering scam

By Francis Carroll, The Drogheda Independent

A 27-year-old woman who admitted her part in a fraud has been given a chance to avoid 12 months in prison when remanded on continuing bail for a community service report.

Gwyne Zoe Timajo, The Drive, Highlands, Drogheda, was before Dundalk Circuit Court on a signed plea of guilty to a money laundering charge.

She allowed her student bank account to be used for an invoice redirection fraud on the back of which the victim made two payments totalling €14,050. The money went into her account.

The actual loss was €10,159.61 after the bank put a freeze on the account.

The court heard that while Ms Timajo, who has no previous convictions, was “sketchy” about the idea, the single mother went ahead and gave up her details.

It was also revealed that she was more than helpful to Gardaí and on learning who the victim was wrote him a letter of apology.

Evidence was given that the offence occurred between September 9 and 10, 2019.

Investigators obtained CCTV of ATM transactions and were able to identify the accused when she withdrew €400 while in the company of a man. In other footage he could be seen withdrawing sums of money.

Following her arrest by arrangement on August 11, 2020, Ms Timajo was forthcoming in an interview.

She told Gardaí that a friend came to her about a “bank job”. He asked for her account details. She was “sketchy” about it but the man told her, “It works”.

He sent her a form to fil in. For a month no money went into her account.

"I had no idea what was in my account,” she said. It was eventually frozen.

The woman received €400 which she spent on clothes for herself.

She thought the whole thing was drugs or gang related and felt it was “easy money”.

A native of the Philippines, the defendant had not come to attention since.

The investigating Garda agreed with barrister Ronan O’Carroll, instructed by solicitor Dermot Monahan, that Ms Timajo’s bank balance was normally around the €100/€200 mark.

She didn’t know that they money came from somebody who had complained and on discovering this wrote a letter of apology to the man, setting out her assistance to Gardaí.

Mr O’Carroll said that his client, the eldest of four children, all of whom lived in Ireland, behaved foolishly and selfishly. She was an otherwise law-abiding woman, whose primary pursuit was the full-time care of her son.

She had shown disregard for the potential consequences but was “incredibly honest” in her Garda interview.

Ms Timajo had completed a PLC course in Nursing and has high aspirations of pursuing a career in the medical field, counsel continued.

Judge Dara Hayes adjourned sentencing to November 12 and said if found suitable in the meantime, the defendant could carry out community service in lieu of a 12-month sentence.