Ghanaian woman caught in €4,000 money laundering scheme in Ireland spared jail time

Ghanaian woman pleads guilty to money laundering in Dublin

Ireland court gives Ghanaian woman nine-month suspended sentence for money laundering

A Ghanaian woman living in Ireland, Roberta Appiah, who was caught helping to launder over €4,000 through the purchase of expensive items in shops in Dublin, has been spared jail time.

Roberta Appiah, a 38-year-old mother, was caught in December 2020 with Louis Vuitton boots, as another person involved in the scheme went around shops in Dublin spending monies acquired through fraud on expensive electronics, clothes and other goods, sundayworld.com reports.

According to the report, the Ghanaian woman was arrested after she was identified on a surveillance camera with earphones.

After her arrest, the police reported that designer boots, Louis Vuitton boots, were found in her home.

Roberta Appiah, was arraigned before the Dublin District Court where she pleaded guilty to money laundering offences in five shops in Dublin, including the Curry’s PC World, Jervis Street; iConnect, Henry Street; Brown Thomas on Grafton Street; Centra on Dame Street and Circle K, Ballymun.

The Dublin District Court judge who presided over the case, Judge Bryan Smyth, gave Appiah a nine-month suspended sentence after she (Appiah) pleaded that she was not the main player.

Robertha Appiah told the judge that she was manipulated into taking part in the scheme.

During the court hearing, it was indicated that the Ulster Bank had reported an account where money was transferred following an invoice redirect.

It was disclosed that the said bank account was not in the control of Appiah.

The bank gave a breakdown of the shopping spree as stated below:

“A subsequent spending spree involved one spend at Curry’s on goods including a laptop and earphones valued at €1,437.

“Some €1,531 was spent at iConnect and €1,400 at Brown Thomas.

“There were two spends of €14 at Centra and Circle K, where cigarettes were bought.”

The accused accepted she was present during the spending and benefited from them.

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