A Syrian man, who gained status in Sweden after claiming asylum, has been sentenced to three years in prison after a customs dog at Dublin Airport sniffed out a large sum of cash in his suitcase.
Khedr Alkhedr (45), who has an address in Sweden, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering contrary to the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act) 2010.
The accused claimed that he was carrying the cash, €142,690 and £60, because he doesn’t trust banks, and for “tax purposes”, which Judge Orla Crowe dismissed as “utterly incredible” and a “concocted story”.
Prosecuting counsel, Garrett McCormick SC, told the court that the accused claimed that the cash was the result of the liquidation of a number of assesst including two warehouses and a company. He claimed that the cash was for buying and refurbishing cars.
Detective Garda Aonghus Cotter of Ballymun Garda station agreed with Mr Cormick that the money had come to light on the 10th of May last year, after a drugs and cash dog had alerted to an “IT suitcase” which had Alkhedr’s name on it. The cash was found in bundles in various denominations wrapped in clothing, the court heard.
Judge Orla Crowe interrupted the evidence to ensure an Arabic interpreter, who was present in court, was translating the proceeding for the accused, and directed that Mr McCormick restated his evidence when the interpreter said he had not been translating hitherto.
Resuming his evidence, Mr McCormick said that the accused had been stopped at Dublin Airport after attempting to board a flight for Turkey at 9:30 am, having flown into Ireland the previous day, when no cash was discovered.
Alkhedr said that he intended to use the cash to buy cars, saying that they would be repurposed from left to right-hand side drivers for €1,000.
Alkhedr said someone else had paid for his flight and accommodation.
Judge Crowe again addressed the interpreter to ask him, “Are you working away?”, before the evidence continued.
Kieran Kelly BL, defending, argued that his client has “had a difficult life” having to seek asylum in Sweden, where he said he has a wife and children.
The accused “made a mistake” and “knew what he was doing was wrong”, he argued.
Detective Garda Cotter accepted that little is known about Alkhedr’s background, save that he has some minor convictions for road traffic offences in Sweden. Cotter acknowledged that the two passports found on his person, one Swedish and one Syrian, are genuine and belong to him.
Mr Kelly argued that his client had taken full responsibility in respect of the cash and understands that it will be seized by the State.
He has been in custody for ten and a half months after being reused bail in respect of the matter.
The maximum sentence for the offence is 14 years. Pleading for leniency, Kelly pointed to his client’s early guilty plea and “unblemished record”, albeit for the road traffic offences.
“I want the translator to translate everything, please”, she said.
Judge Crowe said that the accused had come to Ireland the previous day with “no money” before returning to the airport “the next morning” with €142,690 in cash, which she said was “the proceeds of crime”.
She said that the accused had taken “numerous” trips to Turkey and Korea and had intended to travel to China.
“This is a deeply serious matter,” she said, adding that the “excuses are simply incredible” and that he had “played an active role” in the criminality.
The court set a headline sentence of four years and six months before reducing this to three years after considering mitigation factors such as the accused being a “foreign national with limited English” who is “far from home”.