NI money mules 'may be helping to launder millions' says PSNI officer

"Money mules" allow their own legitimate accounts to be used by criminals to deposit and launder cash

Police estimate "money mules" could be helping to launder millions of pounds in Northern Ireland by renting out their bank accounts, a court has heard.

Money mules is the term used for people who allow their own legitimate accounts to be used by criminals to stash cash.

Two weeks ago a judge said there seemed to be an "alarming" rise and asked for all such cases currently before Belfast Crown Court to be identified.

Police have now confirmed there are 75 cases but over 200 live investigations.

• The dangerous 'cottage industry' of money mules

• Rise in teenage money mules prompts warnings

The details were confirmed to Belfast Crown Court on Thursday by a detective sergeant from the PSNI's Economic Crime Unit, in lieu of a "super hearing" into money mule crime due to be held next year.

'Cottage industry'

He said the PSNI was currently investigating more than 200 cases in which money taken in frauds and internet scams was laundered through money mule accounts.

The detective sergeant said the PSNI estimated that mules were helping to launder "hundreds of thousands to millions of pounds".

The figures followed a hearing in mid-November, during which Judge Neil Rafferty raised concerns about the rise in the number of sentencing cases for money mule offending.

At the time, the judge said it was "quite clear that there is a cottage industry developing out there for people who are making their clean accounts available to organised crime".

'Fast money'

On Thursday, the detective sergeant told the judge it was the "the easiest way" for criminals to launder money, explaining that they could expect to pay between £200 and £500 to mules in order to launder sums in excess of £10,000.

The officer said money mules saw it as a "quick way of making fast money," but added that those involved "are certainly aware of what is going on".

The court heard that money mules were often recruited through social media or by word of mouth, and that in some cases, family members were involved.

The detective sergeant agreed with Judge Rafferty that in a case involving about £200,000, it would take in excess of 20 money mules to move that cash between accounts before it would "disappear into the ether".

The officer agreed to provide a statistical analysis of the amounts of money involved and of scale of victims over the past six months.

His report is to be presented to Belfast Recorder Judge David McFarland in a hearing listed for mid-January, as the courts consider how to deal with such offending in the future.