Suspicious activity was identified in a number of bank accounts(Image: Garda)

Married couple charged with laundering millions using money mules and cryptocurrency accounts

16 Nov 2024, 18:38 by Tom Tuite · Irish Mirror

A married couple were arrested in Dublin over a suspected international money laundering operation with €21m allegedly transferred through online banks and cryptocurrency accounts, a court has heard.

Jixu Wang, 35, and his 34-year-old wife, Ye Wang, who are from China, were charged with possessing crime proceeds in a digital bank account between September 2023 and February this year and have been denied bail.

Dublin District Court heard they rented an apartment in south Co Dublin "in the shadow of Blackrock Garda station".

Following a "complex" investigation by the Dublin East Garda economic crime unit, with cooperation from Europol, and police in Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, officers arrested the unemployed couple on Tuesday. They searched their apartment on Avoca Road, Blackrock.

The pair previously ran a cryptocurrency trading business and moved from the Philippines to Ireland last year as part of an "immigration investment programme" after donating €400,000 to a charity, ICARE Housing CLG.

The couple faced bail objections during separate hearings before Judge John Campbell on Saturday.

Detective Garda Steven Dunican and Barry Cusack voiced concerns about flight risk or that they could dispose of evidence.

It was Mrs Wang's birthday, and she wept throughout the proceedings. The alleged offences are under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act which can carry a 14-year sentence.

The Criminal Courts of Justice, Dublin.(Image: Collins)

Detective Garda Steven Dunican and Barry Cusack told Judge Campbell that on March 9, officers from a Garda economic crime unit received information from German police about a suspected investment fraud.

A German national had €10,000 transferred from his bank to a Paytend digital bank account of Mr Wang.

Detective Garda Cusack conducted inquiries with Paytend regarding Jixu Wang, and it was alleged the accused used his Chinese passport number on the account.

Garda Cusack identified 1,894 "unusual” transactions that had been transferred into the account to the value of €5,043,705 received from 622 different IBANs over a five-month period between July 2 and November 9 last year.

It was claimed that there were other unusual transactions between another Paytend account held by his wife, Ye Wang, who is a qualified accountant. Her Paytend account allegedly received 733 transactions valued at just over €2.1m from 321 different bank accounts from September 11, 2023, and January 12 this year.

The court heard claims GPS (Global Positioning System) location has been obtained for login dates for both Paytend accounts, matching their address.

Gardai including the Criminal Assets Bureau identified €14.7m in cryptocurrency wallets(Image: Gardaí)

The detectives outlined how they were both unemployed but there was just over €7m in their accounts.

Gardai including the Criminal Assets Bureau identified €14.7m in cryptocurrency wallets, of which €4.4m has been seized or frozen by the investigation team. Mr Wang was interviewed a dozen times at Blackrock Garda station over four days.

Their apartment was searched, resulting in an alleged seizure of €20,000, gold coins and five envelopes with "seed words" to access a cryptocurrency wallet. Documents, phones and laptops have also been recovered. It was alleged Mrs Wang helped create fake documents to set up "money mule" accounts.

The detectives feared the couple, who have a young child, would leave the country if released on bail, as they had no family in Ireland or links to this jurisdiction.

Solicitor Andrew Vallely put it to Detective Cusack that his client, Mr Wang, would surrender his passport and undertake to refrain from online or cryptocurrency activity.

Eoghan O'Sullivan, Ms Wang's solicitor, submitted that his client was the principal carer for their child and she too would obey conditions.

The defence stressed their clients had no prior convictions, and the detectives agreed with the lawyers that there would be a lengthy period until their trial. The couple listened to the proceedings with the aid of a Mandarin interpreter.

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