A FATHER of one has been charged with money laundering in connection with last week’s €300,000 kidnapping and bank robbery in Dublin.
Raymond Rea (29), from Ryebridge Close, Kilcock, Co Kildare, was brought before the Dublin District Court yesterday evening.
He became the first person in the State to be charged under the Criminal Justice Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act 2010, which was passed into law in May. Conviction on indictment, which the Director of Public Prosecutions has directed in this case, can result in a sentence of up to 14 years.
Mr Rea’s charge alleges handling, acquiring or possessing €30,000, the proceeds of criminal conduct, on September 4th last at his home address.
Det Sgt Joseph Molloy told Judge William Hamill that the accused, who was dressed in navy jeans and a dark-blue T-shirt, replied “nothing to say” after the charge was put to him at Terenure Garda station yesterday afternoon.
The defendant spoke briefly when a legal aid application was made on his behalf by defence solicitor Pádraig O’Donovan. Mr Rea was asked by the judge whether he had a job, and he replied: “I was employed at the time, I am not too sure if I’m still employed.”
Det Sgt Molloy objected to bail, citing the seriousness of the alleged offence, and said the amount of money recovered was a “small percentage of a large sum of money taken in a criminal enterprise.”
He said transport and a firearm used were still outstanding, and that the “investigation is still live”.
He agreed with Mr O’Donovan that he would consent to conditional bail with an independent surety of €10,000, subject to the accused surrendering his passport and not having contact with three individuals allegedly connected to the incident.
Judge Hamill imposed the conditions and remanded the accused in custody with consent to bail, which the court heard he would not be taking up immediately.
He will appear again at Cloverhill District Court on September 16th next. As conditions of his bail the accused will also have to sign on daily at his local Garda station and obey a curfew from 10pm to 7.30am.
Gardaí in Terenure launched an investigation following the abduction of the wife of a bank official attached to AIB, Clondalkin, from her home in Domville Drive, Templeogue, Dublin 6, in the early hours of September 2nd last.