A 23-year-old man has appeared before the Criminal Courts of Justice after he was arrested as part of a garda investigation into darknet markets and money laundering, involving the use of cryptocurrencies.
Kevin Daniel Andrei, with an address at Drynam Avenue in Swords, is facing three charges of money laundering under Section 7 of the Criminal Justice Act.
Detective Garda Ciaran Byrne from the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCB) told the court that Mr Andrei had been cautioned and arrested this afternoon at Kevin Street Garda station, and had made no reply to the charges.
The three money laundering charges are that on dates between March 2021 and September 2022 that he concealed and disguised the nature and source of 42 separate Binance transactions to the value of more than €34,000, knowing them to be the proceeds of criminal activity.
Another charge relates to more than €22,000 worth of Wirex transactions whilst the final charge relates to the concealment of more than 1,800 Revolut transactions worth more than €227,000, knowing they were the proceeds of criminal conduct on dates betwen February 2021 and June 2024.
The court heard Mr Andrei was currently not working.
He was released on bail on a number of conditions, including that he sign on three times a week at Swords Garda Station.
He must agree to surrender his passport and not to apply for any new travel documents.
He must also agree not to carry out any cryptocurrency transactions and not to have any contact directly or indirectly with any other people involved in the case.
He must also agree not to make any comments about the case on any public forum including social media.
He was released on bail and he is due to appear again before the court on 3 October for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Two other people, a 49-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman, were also arrested in connection the investigation earlier this week.
They have since been released without charge and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
