A man who was involved in laundering monies that were deemed to be the proceeds of crime was jailed for five years at the Circuit Criminal Court.
Oleksandr Strymbu (35) was aided by an interpreter in court as he appeared via video link from Cloverhill Prison to be sentenced.
Detective Garda Kate Gilligan gave evidence of the money laundering scheme where large sums of cash in the amount of €1,058,575 was discovered by Gardaí who had obtained a search warrant for an address in Beverly Downs, Knocklyon, Dublin 16 on the 13th of June 2024.
A white van was observed transporting shopping bags which were taken into the house. During the execution of the search warrant Gardaí discovered the cash which was kept in 6 shopping bags or gift bags.
£60 was also discovered with the over 1 million euro contained in vacuum packs and there was a cash counting machine on a coffee table in the front room of the house which had been converted into a bedroom.
Strymbu was the occupier of this room in the house, which was being rented by a number of tenants, where clothing was “scattered around”.
€25,900 was also discovered in an upstairs bedroom.
The court heard that Strymbu had been tasked with collecting and storing the money by his housemate, who is his brother-in-law, and that he would drive around to collect cash whereupon he would hand over a Ukrainian bank note “as a token”.
Photos of the cash in situ which were taken by Gardaí during their search were handed into the court.
When Strymbu was arrested, he denied knowledge of the cash, but later admitted that he had been collecting the cash in a Ford Transit and would receive instructions by phone.
He said he didn’t know how much money there was in the bags and that he did not receive payment for his part in the operation, but was given money for fuel and taken out for food.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of money laundering on the 11th of March, with the court hearing he has one previous conviction for a Road Traffic Offence.
Strymbu’s defence counsel Oisin Clarke argued that his client was “completely cooperative” with Gardaí.
Gda Gilligan replied that he had given answers during his “last two” interviews.
Clarke said that his client had expressed regret over his actions saying, “I was an idiot, I trusted my relatives” and, “Now I’m here, where is he?”
Strymbu is qualified as a PE teacher in Ukraine, has experience working in construction, and worked for a time in the UK..
He came here to work and “make a better life” for his wife and two daughters.
Mr. Clarke said that Strymbu was meant to be the “breadwinner” for his family who are not financially well off and will be likely unable to visit him during his prison term.
The court received a “heartfelt” letter from the accused’s wife with whom he has daughters who are 5 and 7.
Clarke said that although the amount of money involved was “huge”, there wasn’t any “major planning” involved as the case was “sitting open” in the house.
He said his client realised he would receive a jail sentence and that he has been unable to send money back home to support his family.
Pleading for leniency, he said that Strymbu had entered an “early guilty plea” and that his first language was not English which would be difficult for him in an Irish jail.
He was “holding money for someone else” and was more or less a “courier”.
Considering sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said that the money involved in the cash was the proceeds of “criminal behaviour” and the “product of a lot of wrongdoing”.
He said Strymbu was a “vital cog” in the money laundering scheme and that he was clearly in a trusted position as he had been entrusted with a large sum of cash and was likely “at least” on the “middle of the ladder” in terms of his involvement.
Judge Nolan said that Strymbu had a “good strong work record” and was “an accomplished enough man”, but that laundering over €1 million is a “serious matter” in which the accused had “a good level of culpability”
He set a headline sentence of 8 years, before passing a sentence of 5 years with mitigation considered.
The sentence is to be backdated to the 13th of June 2024 when Strymbu went into custody.
An order for forfeiture of the cash was granted to the state.