A young woman caught with luxury items, a luxury car and almost 100,000 euros in various accounts has been sentenced to probation for money laundering.
athleen McDonagh (21) had luxury items worth €23,715 including two Chanel handbags, Louis Vuitton bags, belts and shoes, Christian Louboutin shoes and two diamond rings when Gardaí obtained a search warrant in January 2020.
A luxury vehicle bought in July 2019 from a dealer in Galway for €25,750 in cash was also confiscated at the time. The court heard the money and items were most likely funded by burglaries and thefts, although these were not committed by McDonagh.
Garda Gary Farrell told prosecutors Aideen Collard BL that McDonagh’s home was searched as part of a broader Garda investigation and later accepted that she was not the target of those investigations.
McDonagh was in a relationship with a man who was at the time in jail for burglary and was “heavily under his influence,” the court heard. This man is now in Scotland and is the subject of a European Arrest Warrant.
During searches of McDonagh’s home on dates in January 2020 and May 2020, Gardaí also found details of an AIB bank account, a postal account, and a credit union account in her name.
Further investigation of these accounts revealed that between March 2018 and December 2019, deposits totaling €98,828.88 were deposited into them.
McDonagh, of Whitechurch Avenue Rathfarnham, Dublin, pleaded guilty to three counts of money laundering between March 2019 and January 2020 before the Dublin Circuit Criminal. Two other money laundering charges were considered. She has no criminal record.
Garnet Orange SC, which is defending itself, argued in court that its client had no role in the main crime but, because of her “apparently good character”, was able to draw up the accounts necessary for the storage and disposal of the Proceeds from these crimes are primary offences.
The attorney asked the court to accept that McDonagh was effectively “a channel.”
Judge Melanie Greally said she was unsure of McDonagh’s guilt in that sense, adding that “she is a direct beneficiary” as the designer goods and car would be used by her.
She said McDonagh came from a stable family who did not condone her behavior but continued to support her. The judge determined that the relationship with the man had ended.
She said the cash and goods were most likely proceeds from burglaries and theft. Gda Farrell told the court that McDonagh’s former partner was someone involved in criminal activity.
Gda Farrell told Ms Collard that there was no evidence of how the money was made and McDonagh’s only source of income at the time was parental leave. McDonagh was between 17 and 19 years old at the time of the charges, the court heard.
Judge Greally said she took into account McDonagh’s young age at the time and lack of previous convictions. She has suspended a three-year sentence entirely on a number of conditions, including that McDonagh keep the peace and behave decently for that period.
