An accountant has been jailed after she and her mother were caught in possession of €1.3 million worth of gold bullion, as well as almost half-a-million-euros in cash, which were the proceeds of crime.
Svethana Bahtijeva (39) of Earlford Court Lucan was jailed for five years for her supporting role in her husband’s drug dealing enterprise.
Judge Martin Nolan was told that the jailed woman’s husband, Farhat Bahtijeva, was also brought before the courts but fled the country after being granted bail, and is now believed to be in his native Kazakhstan, a country with whom Ireland has no extradition arrangements.
Both Svetlana Bahtijeva and her mother Jelene Idele (59) were charged with the possession of 18.8 kg of gold bullion with cash in various demonisations totalling €458,650. Two vehicles, an Audi 8.4 and A5, also the proceeds of crime, were also seized as part of the investigation.
The value of the gold bullion, which was stored as Sentinel Vaults in Dublin 4, was €1.350,000. A number of false identity documents and debit cards pertaining to Farhat Bahtijeva were also stored in the vaults along with cash.
The court accepted that Jelene Idele’s role in the offending was limited to having agreed to store a number of safe boxes at her home in Hillview Grove Dundrum on behalf of her son-in-law whom she claimed to have never liked and believed to be a “potentially dangerous man”.
Prosecuting counsel, David Stanton BL told the court that the mother and daughter had come to Ireland from Latvia in 2006, in search of a better life, before Svethana met and married Farhart who is 17 years her senior.
A search of the Lucan home of the Bahtijeva family – which was purchased in cash for €250,000 – uncovered over €58,000 hidden in a lunch box, as well as €187,00 worth of cocaine and €26,000 worth of MDMA.
Svethana Bahtijeva was interviewed by Gardaí six times, but nothing of evidential value arose from this until the last occasion when she submitted a pre-prepared statement detailing her background.
She claimed that she was “under the control” of her husband who had instructed her to open vaults in her name. She said she would put cash into the vaults, but did not personally benefit from this herself.
Farhat also instructed that the home in Lucan be in the name of Jelene Idele‘s mother, the court heard.
When Gardaí asked Svethana if she had purchased any of the gold, she answered, “No, I just place it in the box” and that she was “unaware of some of the money found in the house.”
Jelene Idele, who works as a cleaner, initially denied knowledge of the three safe boxes found in her Dundrum residence, however she too opened vaults in her name in order to store documents on behalf of Farhat.
When Farhat was interviewed he said that his wife was not involved in drug dealing, saying “no just me”, and admitting that he had asked her to open the vault accounts.
Defending counsel, Michael Bowman SC said that Jelene Idele had always thought her daughter’s husband was “suspicious” and believed that he may have been involved in crime. She claimed that he had attacked her at her home while Svethana was overseas, but she did not file a complaint about this.
When Farhat was jailed in Northern Ireland, it was only when she went to visit him with the couple’s two children that Svethana realised that he was serving his sentence under a false name, Bowman argued, adding that she “didn’t know” he was in for drug offences.
There was further conflict in the family when it was “found out” that, while the Latvian women are Russian Orthodox, Farhat was Muslim, the court heard.
Mr. Staunton, noting the absence before the courts of Farhat Bahtijeva said that the case was akin to “a camel without a prince”, and that it was necessary to look “below the surface” to access the women’s real level of “moral culpability”.
The court heard that Mrs. Bahtijeva was pleading for her mother to be spared jail, and was happy to be sent to prison herself, as long as her children were left in the care of their grandmother.
Judge Nolan accepted that the “main culprit in this saga is not before the courts” and that unless there are fortuitous circumstances he might never appear.”
He said that both the women had pleaded guilty to certain offences “mostly” for money laundering.
Judge Nolan said that it appeared that Mrs. Bahtijeva had benefitted “to some degree” from the lifestyle her husband’s drug dealing had provided, and that “all of these monies and property” were the fruits of “illicit” activity.
She “knew what was happening” and “was an active participant”, he said, adding that she found herself in a “difficult situation” by being “married to a man who was a pretty serious criminal”.
Svethana “decided to stay and participate” but “to her credit” entered a guilty plea at an “early stage”.
Noting that there was “very strong mitigation”, but that her wrongdoing was “quite serious”, Judge Nolan sentence her to five years in prison to be backdated to the 2nd of October 2024.
Turning to Jelene Idele, he said she had been “reckless” in “acting as a key holder” for her son-in-law, thereby “enabling” him to “hide his ill gotten gains”, and that she “must have known to some extent” that the contents of the boxes were “illicit”.
He said that she had “excellent references” and that she “didn’t participate at all in the proceeds of crime”, and is “currently working a couple of jobs minding her two grand children”.
“Their welfare is a matter that this court does, and has to take into account,” despite her “serious wrongdoing”, he said.
The court decided to grant Ms. Idele a non-custodial sentence “critically by reason of the fact that she’s currently the custodian of these children”, before passing a sentence of four years in prison to be suspended in full on condition of good behaviour.
Forfeiture orders in respect of the gold bullion, 458,650 in cash, and the Audi 8.4 and A5 were granted to the state.