Gardaí arrest two in cybercrime probe

False passports, fake IDs, cash, account books and other financial items were seized by gardaí following a search of two Dublin homes relating to an organised cybercrime investigation involving 130 suspects.

Two men were arrested as part of the investigation into money laundering via money mule and bogus bank accounts.

The arrests are the 14th and 15th in Ireland as part of the ongoing investigation, with more than 130 suspects identified as connected to the organised crime group in Ireland, gardaí said.

Around 70 suspects have opened bank accounts in either false names or as money mules, with near €6m laundered through these accounts.

The money being laundered are the proceeds of cyber enabled fraud including the fraudulent selling of non-existent goods across the EU, invoice re-directs, phishing scams and accommodation frauds, according to gardaí.

The same organised crime outfit is being investigated in Germany, Holland, Portugal, Spain, Croatia, Poland and UK, with an estimated €22m laundered by this group across the EU over the past few years.

During yesterday’s raid, two homes were searched in Dublin 15 by members of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, assisted by gardaí attached to the Special Investigations Unit of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, and the Garda Dog Unit.

Two men, both aged in their 30s, were arrested as part of the operation, and are currently under detention at Blanchardstown and Ballymun stations.