Father of 11 jailed for role in Cork money-laundering operation

The sum of money in the bank account was €228,274.

 A father-of-eleven who controlled a bank account in another man’s name — when €228,000 passed through it over four years — had no explanation for this money except that he sold The Big Issue.

Judge Colin Daly said Chilimbar Vasile, 57, played a significant role in money-laundering where he also appeared to be assisting a criminal organisation and he jailed the accused for three years.

The judge remarked: “While substantial sums were going into the account, he was claiming welfare payments from the state.

“He admitted using the account for a number of years but he could not account for all of the money that had gone through the account — in excess of €200,000 — save for saying it was from selling The Big Issue.

“Interpol established he was the owner of what can only be described as a substantial property in Romania and there was no mortgage listed on the property. He has three vehicles in his name in that country.

“The accused’s conduct here also appears to be assisting a criminal organisation. However, in this case, it would appear to be a family-based enterprise.” 

The judge imposed a prison sentence of four years on Vasile and suspended the final year of the sentence at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The same man was previously convicted at district court level for using a wire hook to fish money out of church collection boxes.

In the course of the present money-laundering investigation, Detective Garda David Kelleher said the defendant was caught in possession of live CCTV coverage from a huge house in Romania where a large volume of notes and coins in multiple denominations and currencies were being counted on a kitchen table.

The CCTV was on Chilimbar Vasile’s phone and it covered his own property in Romania where he also had three powerful cars, the detective said.

Describing the extensive scale of the Romanian property, it was established through Interpol inquiries that there was no mortgage against the house which is owned by the defendant.

In January 2021, Vasile was caught with an AIB bank card for an account in someone else’s name, and in an examination of the account over the previous four years it was established that over €228,000 had passed through it.

Rent allowance

The father of eleven children was in receipt of €455 per week in disability allowance and also received rent allowance of €164,000 over a number of years while living in Cork.

He was convicted previously of stealing from church collection boxes at locations that included Carrigtwohill, Cloyne, and Dungarvan.

Chilimbar Vasile of 13A Eagle Valley, Sarsfield Road, Wilton, Cork pleaded guilty to the count stating that on September 24, 2019, proceeds of criminal conduct namely the money was credited to an AIB account in another name, knowing or being reckless as to whether it was the proceeds of crime.

Garda Kelleher said the sum of money, in the AIB account in question, was €228,274.

Last week, Siobhán Lankford, defence senior counsel, said that although it was to a limited extent the accused had cooperated with the investigation.

Ms Lankford also suggested that cases such as this were difficult in terms of proof for the prosecution and that his plea of guilty would have been of assistance. This was accepted by Det. Garda Kelleher.

In relation to evidence of a large property in Romania, Ms Lankford said there was a family background to the ownership of this property, that he had eleven children, and that “property (in Romania) is not as expensive as Ireland.”