Young Dublin man avoids jail after unwittingly letting fraudster use account for scam

Darragh Farley (20) was arrested for money laundering after €400 was transferred into his account from the fraudulent sale on a fake Facebook page.

Farley met the culprit through a friend, did not know about the scam and “genuinely believed he was helping” him, his defence said.

He was spared a criminal conviction after paying the money back to the victim. Farley, from Clonshaugh Heights, Dublin 17 pleaded guilty to possessing the proceeds of crime.

Judge Bryan Smyth applied the Probation Act.

Dublin District Court heard that in October 2021, the victim tried to buy an iPad advertised on Facebook and sent €400 to a Revolut account but did not hear back and realised the advert was fake.

The account was Farley’s and when questioned, he told gardaí he had let a friend use it but did not contribute to the fake Facebook page. He told gardaí he had no idea the third party had any criminal intent.

Through a childhood friend, he met a man who said he was over from England and had no bank account. This man said his father wanted to send him some money from the UK and Farley agreed to hold the money in his account for him.

He made no financial gain from it. The third party was now outside the jurisdiction and investigations were ongoing, a garda told the court.

Farley had no previous convictions.