A County Tipperary man has avoided jail for his part in an email fraud scam which resulted in over €26,000 being stolen from an elderly man.
Cork man Sean McCarthy’s dream of a holiday home in Co. Kerry suffered a major setback when the last of three stage payments to builders went into the wrong bank account after the invoice from the firm was intercepted by scammers.
Jack Ward from Garrinch in Fethard and Kelvin Kleinovis of Finglas in Dublin were before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday after pleading guilty to recklessly handling the proceeds of crime.
They were both used as money mules by the unknown person behind the scam.
22 year old Ward told Gardaí that that he had provided his bank details to someone on Snapchat after he was told he would be paid a ten per cent cut of a transfer of €10,000. He said he was acting impulsively and knows now that his behaviour was stupid and immature.
The court was told that neither man was suspected as having set up the bogus email or being behind the scam.
The bank returned €16,580 to the victim, leaving him still out of pocket for €9,820.
Judge Melanie Greally suspended an eight-month prison term for Jack Ward, saying he was evidently very remorseful and unlikely to reoffend.
Sentencing Kleinovis at a separate sitting, Judge Pauline Codd suspended a two-year prison term noting that he has expressed remorse and is now working and trying to pay back some of the stolen money.
