'Herder of mules' - Waterford man in €2 million phishing scam
Lepota was sentenced to serve five years in prison.
A Waterford man was a ‘Tier 2’ player in an multinational phishing operation that stole over €2 million from thousands of victims.
Elliot Lepota, of 4 O’Connell Court, Penrose Lane, Waterford City, will spend five years in prison for money-laundering.
The 24-year-old appeared via video link at Waterford Circuit Court for sentencing before Judge Eugene O’Kelly.
Lepota has been in custody on the matter since his arrest in September 2023. On June 23, 2023, a woman was the victim of a phishing scam when she received a call claiming to be from AIB. The fraudulent call told her that her account was "compromised" and "immediate action was required". She lost €3,692 from her account. €1,992 of the sum was transferred to a Revolut account.
In their victim impact statement, the woman said the theft left her feeling "violated and manipulated". She stated: “The loss had a severe impact, I was in the early stage of repaying my mortgage. It had a profound emotional effect on me.
“I felt violated and manipulated, it was an erosion of trust. I found myself doubting people’s intentions.”
The woman was just one of the thousands of victims of this particular scam. Up to 9,800 victims were identified in Ireland and 411 in Finland with the total loss calculated at over €2 million.
State Prosecutor Miranda Egan-Langley informed the Court that victims in Finland were made to take out loans to cover their losses. She said: “There is no compensation scheme. Victims are obliged to pay these loans back.”
Defence counsel Michelle Smith De Brúin told the Court that the victim reached out to AIB and was compensated in full.
While most money-laundering offences before Waterford Court involve ‘money-mules’, Lepota had a greater involvement in the scam. Judge O’Kelly described Lepota as: "a herder of the mules".
Detective Alan Egan described Lepota a "Tier 2" actor working under someone else in the "complex and sophisticated" criminal enterprise.
Lepota used a web host, attained from the dark web, to mirror sites like AIB, thus appearing legitimate to unsuspecting victims: “People would think they were dealing with a legitimate site.”
Detective Garda Donal Donohoe stated that Gardaí recovered nine laptops and 35 other devices from the operation. One device had 250,000 fraudulent messages alone, claiming to be from An Post, Fastway and AIB.
Judge O’Kelly imposed a headline sentence of nine years, reduced by three years in mitigation.
Lepota received mitigation for his guilty plea, which saved "enormous resources" for the State, influence of co-accused and co-operation with Gardaí.
The final year was suspended and he will be under probation supervision for 12 months.
