Person interviewed in Roscommon as part of Covid-19 scam probe
Detectives from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) have interviewed an Irish citizen in Roscommon as part of an ongoing investigation into an international Covid-19 scam.
In a statement issued this morning, the Garda press office said the person was interviewed in Roscommon on Friday last in relation to the suspected laundering of €1.5 million.
Outlining the background to this, the Gardai said a German company had been contracted by German State officials to purchase 10 million masks, with an approximate value of €15 million, to help deal with the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany.
The German company was next put in contact with a Dutch supplier through an Irish intermediary and placed an order for 11 million masks. Unknown to the German company, the order was made with a fraudulent entity who had cloned the website and email address of the legitimate Dutch company.
The fraudulent Dutch company set up supply channels through the Irish intermediary to provide 11 million masks, worth up €7,700,000, to the German Government.
Following contractual agreements, a down payment was made by the German company of €1.5 million to the Irish company’s bank account, based in Roscommon, for the delivery of the first 7.7m masks. The German company also made a further payment of €880,000 to the (fraudulent) Dutch company’s bank account.
On March 27, representatives from the German and Irish companies met in Amsterdam to inspect and oversee the handover of the shipment, but it never materialised.
The representatives attended the company office of the Dutch company where they were told that no shipment was ever ordered or assigned.
After the initial police report in Germany, Financial Intelligent Units (FIUs) from Germany, Holland and Ireland, with the support of FIU.net, Interpol, Europol, and Eurojust analysed the information at hand and went about trying to recover some of the compromised funds.
As part of the investigation, Dutch police arrested two males for alleged fraud, falsification and money laundering in connection with criminal proceeds of €880,000. These two males were in court on Thursday last.
The €1.5m in the Irish bank account, based in Roscommon, has been frozen.
On Friday detectives from the GNECB, with assistance from Roscommon Gardaí, interviewed an Irish citizen in county Roscommon in relation to the suspected laundering of €1.5 million in this jurisdiction, contrary to section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts.
Documents and electronic devices were obtained. These are currently being forensically examined, and the investigation is continuing.