Waterford woman sentenced for money-laundering
Halligan was sentenced in Waterford Courthouse.
A Waterford woman has been sentenced to over a year in prison for money-laundering.
Nadia Halligan (33) of 18 Thomas Street, Waterford, appeared in Waterford Circuit Court via video link before Judge Eugene O'Kelly. She is currently in custody on other matters.
State Prosecutor Niall Storan BL asked Detective Garda Gareth O'Callaghan about the background of the offending.
Det. O'Callaghan told the Court that in August 2023, the accused gave away her phone and codes to a man called 'J1'.
The phone contained her Revolut account and details. Halligan had a drug debt of roughly €800 of cannabis and sold her phone as a form of payment.
On October 26, 2023, a woman in Tipperary was sent a scam message pertaining to be from Bank of Ireland (BOI) which claimed that 'suspicious activity' had been reported on her account.
By engaging with the fraudulent message, the victim lost €13,761. She was later re-imbursed by BOI.
The stolen money went to three accounts; one in the UK, one in the North of Ireland and the other to Halligans' account, which transferred a sum of €5,421.
Halligan had no control of her account at the time.
Halligan was detained in September 2024 by Det. O'Callaghan and admitted to selling her phone the year before. When asked by the detective if she had received any of the sum of money she said: "Not a thing, not even a bag of weed."
He told the Court that she was in receipt of €232 a week and had worked in Infosys and Smyth's Toystore.
The Court heard that Halligan had 26 previous convictions, mainly theft-related offences.
Defence counsel Gareth Hayden said that Halligan had a 'very difficult' upbringing, growing up in home affected by addiction and violence.
The Court was informed that Halligan became a mother in her early-teens and had been living alone since the age of 15.
Mr Hayden referred to her strong work record in spite of her issues with addiction and difficult early life.
Judge O'Kelly sentenced Halligan to two years in prison with the final nine months suspended in mitigation.
He referred to the crime of 'money-mules' as "all too prevalent crime whereby young people freely' give away their accounts for the purposes of crime.
