A young Carlow woman may be ordered to carry out community service in lieu of a 16 month jail term for money laundering after her bank account was used in order to facilitate a large social welfare fraud.
Carlow Circuit Criminal Court heard that Dion Timmons (23) was approached in college by someone whom she considered to be a friend. She was asked to provide her account details and was informed that it was not a crime.
Timmons of Chaff Street, Graiguecullen, pleaded guilty that she did engage in converting/transferring/handling/acquiring/possessing or using property that is the proceeds of crime while knowing that/believing that/being reckless as to whether the cash was proceeds of criminal conduct on dates in April 2022. She has no previous convictions.
Judge Mary Morrissey said that while Timmons set up the account having been approached to do so, she had no further role in the criminal organisation that was involved in the larger social welfare fraud.
She said however that Timmons “freely set up the account, albeit naively” and that 23 people had been impacted.
Judge Morrissey said a headline sentence of 24 months was warranted before taking into account the mitigating features of the case.
She acknowledged Timmons plea of guilty, “a lengthy letter of remorse which appears to be genuine”, the fact she has no previous convictions and has not come to garda attention since and the fact that she is a 23-year-old student who now has good family support.
Judge Morrissey further acknowledged that a probation report indicated that Timmons was at a low risk of offending. She took into account four character references which she said described Timmons as “a diligent, a young person with strong values and a caring heart, a person who has the potential to contribute to society”.
Some of those who prepared character references stated that they were aware that Timmons was before the court but said they are also aware of her struggles adding that Timmons has demonstrated “extreme resilience”. She was further described as “reliable and respectful”.
Judge Morrissey reduced the sentence to 16 months before she adjourned the case to confirm to allow for an assessment by the Probation Service to determine if Timmons is suitable for community service. She said should she be deemed suitable she will order that Timmons carry out 80 hours community service in lieu of a 16 month term of imprisonment. The case was adjourned another sitting to confirm this order.
Addressing Timmons in court, Judge Morrissey said “the very best of luck to you. I hope we do not meet again”.
ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE FROM SENTENCE HEARING LAST WEEK
Tara Geoghegan BL defending told Judge Morrissey that had her client known that this was a crime she would never have got involved in the offence.
She said that her client was 19 years old at the time and accepts now that her actions at the time “assisted fraudulent activity” and she recognises that her behaviour was “naive and irresponsible”.
The court heard that a total of €12,374.64 was deposited into Timmons’ account in 23 separate transactions on dates between April 4, 2022 and April 28, 2022. The account had been opened on March 8, 2022 and ultimately closed on April 28, 2022 because the bank had suspicions that the activity in the account was suspicious.
Ms Geoghegan said her client had “never in her life” seen such a significant amount of money and that the cash “did not enhance her lifestyle whatsoever.”
“It was not money she had at her disposal to have a lavish lifestyle in 2022,” counsel continued.
She said a probation report indicates that her client has engaged with The Probation Service. She is studying and hopes to ultimately qualify as an educational psychologist. She is working part time and is “keeping her head down”, Ms Geoghegan said.
Counsel submitted that her client has “a complex family background” and was going through a period of “emotional instability” at the time of the offence.
Ms Geoghegan asked the court to accept that Timmons’ “vulnerability and poor decision making” led to her getting involved in the offence rather than “criminal behaviour”.
Judge Morrissey adjourned the sentence to next Thursday to allow her time to consider the various documents that were handed into court on Timmons’ behalf. Timmons was remanded on continuing bail.
Detective Garda Kieran Shields told Brian O’Shea BL prosecuting that the initial fraud began in Letterkenny, Donegal when unsuspecting people had their PPSN used to apply to the Department of Social Welfare for a €350 payment under an illness benefit scheme.
Det Gda Shields said that gardaí in Letterkenny identified a number of people that had been involved in the fraud and with the assistance of gardaí in other stations nationally identified the various money mule accounts that were used to facilitate the fraud.
Each of the applications were successful and later 19 payments of €350 were deposited into Timmons’ account. Four further payments, which were unrelated and taken from bank accounts in Germany were also lodged to the account – leading to a total of €12,374.64.
Det Gda Shields agreed with Ms Geoghegan that Timmons had never been in trouble before and never been in a garda station before her arrest. He confirmed that she has not come to adverse attention of the gardaí since and has abided by her bail conditions.
He said he “did not know” if she benefited financially from the money that had been lodged to her account.
Ms Geoghegan suggested that it was “a bigger network behind my client that are involved” in the overall fraud.
Det Gda Shields said that people were needed to open bank accounts before he added that “money moved swiftly” through Timmons’ account.
He said that money moved from this account into another account in Luxembourg.
Det Gda Shields confirmed that there were no victim impact statements in the case but he said that those people who had their PPSN used without their permission for payments that they never received may be put out when they now have “to get their affairs back in order for tax purposes”.