Gardaí said they have disrupted a multi-million euro money laundering operation whereby large sums from suspected frauds were deposited in Polish, French and Norwegian bank accounts and withdrawn at ATMs in Ireland.
Over €320,000 in cash has so far been seized along with multiple false identity documents and bank cards.
A man in his 30s is still being detained under organised crime legislation and being questioned at a Dublin garda station.
A woman in her 30s who was also arrested and questioned has been released without charge pending a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The investigation into this international money laundering operation is part of Operation Skein, which was set up to target business email compromise and invoice redirect fraud being committed from Ireland.
Money stolen is also being withdrawn and laundered here.
Gardaí first stopped a car in Lucan in Co Dublin last Saturday and arrested a man in his 30s with around €17,000 in cash near an ATM.
They also discovered multiple bank cards in different names for different bank accounts, and that another €10,000 had been spent on high-value and electronic goods.
Detectives from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau then searched the man's home in Cork and found another €69,000 in cash, as well as foreign currency, more false identity documents, including false drivers’ licences, false bank cards and mobile phones which were also linked to bank accounts.
Over the weekend, investigators then discovered a rented apartment in Dublin, which they believe is linked to the suspect in custody.
When they searched it last night, they discovered another €236,885 in cash, along with 660 Polish zloty, nine passports, five driving licences and three identity cards, bringing the total number of bank cards seized to 59 and the cash total to €322,855.
Detectives believe that over €750,000 has been withdrawn from ATMs in Ireland over the past two weeks, with over €400,000 as yet unaccounted for, as part of an international money laundering scheme run by a transnational organised crime gang.
They are investigating if the fraud is linked to the Black Axe criminal gang or another West African organised crime group.
The Black Axe is the largest organised crime group in the world and is also involved in guns, drugs and other serious crime.
The gang set up bank accounts in Poland, France and Norway and deposited money from international financial frauds, including invoice redirect and romance frauds, which was then withdrawn in large sums at ATMs in Ireland.
Gardaí are also liaising with international law enforcement agencies through Europol in relation to bank accounts in Poland and Norway.
Gardaí have consistently stressed that these multi-million euro frauds are not victimless crimes.
Organised crime groups have stolen people’s life savings, they have damaged and destroyed people’s lives through romance fraud and sextortion, and gardaí said there have been cases where people have been left so bereft, they have taken their own lives.
