Kilkenny Court - Woman convicted of money laundering after Done Deal "fraud"

A woman has been convicted of money laundering, at Kilkenny District Court, following a ‘Done Deal gone wrong’.

The ‘unusual’ case resulted from a complaint to gardaí after money was paid for an item which was not received. Melissa Crawford, 14 Poolboy Cottages, Ballinasloe, Galway, pleaded guilty to a charge of money laundering.

Sergeant Morgan O’Connor told the court that on June 7, 2021, the injured party posted a ‘wanted’ advert on Done Deal for a grass box for a lawn mower.

A person claiming to be Ms Crawford offered the item for sale and the injured party transferred €60 to them to pay for it. They then sent a picture of the receipt. However, the ‘seller’ rejected the receipt as faulty and refused to send the item.

The injured party complained to gardaí that they were a victim of a scam.Garda investigations lead to Ms Crawford, in Galway. In interview she made admissions.

Solicitor Ed Hughes said it was an unusual case because his client was charged with money laundering. He explained that Ms Crawford’s cousin was allowed to use her Paddy Power betting account to place bets. She ‘very foolishly’ allowed this account to accept the payment. She did not know her cousin was going to do this and use her account for a scam.

The crime itself was not perpetrated by his client and he wanted to distance her from the actual “fraud.”
Ms Crawford did not know this was going to happen but accepted she should have taken better care of her account and shouldn’t have let her cousin use it.

Ms Crawford is 34 and the mother of six children. She was ‘duped’ by her cousin.
Mr Hughes said his client had brought money to court to offer as compensation to the injured party and he asked the court to be lenient.

Judge Geraldine Carthy noted the compensation offer. Ms Crawford was convicted and fined €101. The judge said she was sure a lesson had been learned.