One Of the ringleaders of a multimillion forged bank draft scam has been jailed for five years by Judge Patrick McCartan at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Thomas O'Brien (61), an Irish national with an address at Kent Walk, London, was jailed for five years after being convicted of conspiring to defraud German and US businessmen of millions of dollars. He was also given a four-year sentence for possessing a $56.5 million forged bank draft, which was to be used to defraud a German software millionaire, Mr Heinz Althoff.
Christian Obumneme, a Nigerian seeking refugee status, with an address at Prussia Street, Dublin, was convicted of possession of the same draft and was sentenced to four years.
Raymond Folkes (38), Dunstans Road, London, was jailed for four years for possessing two forged bank drafts found in the offices of World Wide Clearing and Finance.
One of the drafts was made out to a company known as Leslie Trading for $15 million.
Judge McCartan said the scheme was highly sophisticated and required weeks or months of planning. He had to send out a message that Dublin could not be used as a haven for such scams.
He recalled Mr Althoff's evidence and said that Folkes appeared to be directing everyone else in the World Wide Clearing and Finance office.
Judge McCartan said he accepted that Folkes had tried to change his plea on the second week of the trial but this had been rejected by the prosecution. Earlier, Mr Patrick Gageby SC, prosecuting, said World Wide Clearing and Finance, which operated from an office at Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, was connected to a sophisticated fraud ring run from Nigeria. Nigerian criminals had already taken £402,000 from Mr Althoff.
The jury heard evidence from a US businessman, Mr Terry Smith, who was enticed to Dublin by the gang. Witnesses from the Companies Office had shown the jury that World Wide Clearing and Finance had been set up by directors using fictitious names and addresses.
Accomplices in Nigeria contacted businessmen around the world and told them they could make tens of millions of dollars by allowing massive dollar transfers into their bank accounts.
When the businessmen came to Ireland, they were told they would have to pay millions of dollars to receive the payments into their accounts.
The court proceedings lasted 24 days.