'Playstation' hoax- man pleads guilty to money laundering at Kilkenny Court

A man who advertised for sale electronic goods like Playstations, then took payment but never delivered the items, has pleaded guilty to four offences under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act.

Manideep Gopu, 92 Haddon Road, Clontarf, Dublin, appeared before Kilkenny District Court where he pleaded guilty to three charges of money laundering and one charge of making gain or causing loss by deception.

All offences took place at a location unknown within the state on April 1, 2021, and April 8, 2021.
Sergeant Morgan O’Connor told the court that on April 8, 2021, gardaí became aware of a complaint that money had been transferred to Mr Gopu’s account, to purchase electronic goods. Communications had taken place via Facebook for the transaction.

Gardaí learned there were three separate injured parties. Two had transferred €550 each and the third had transferred €500.
Mr Gopu had no previous convictions, the court heard.

Solicitor Ed Hughes said his client is 25 and originally from Pakistan.
In September 2019 he came to Ireland to pursue a degree in data analytics, in college. When Covid hit, a number of Mr Gopu’s friends looked for online jobs. Mr Gopu came across an employer from an independent electronics store in Limerick and saw a job advertised.

Mr Hughes said his client had exchanges with the employer that were like a job interview, and he got the job.
The employer would send Mr Gopu a photograph of electronics like Playstations. He would upload the picture to his own account and then try to sell them.
The whole amount paid would go back to the employer in Limerick, the solicitor said. His client did this on three occasions.
Mr Gopu was promised a salary of €600 every two weeks, but he didn’t get anything, Mr Hughes told the court.

Mr Gopu didn’t think there was anything wrong until his bank contacted him to say they had suspended all activity on his account.
His employer had asked Mr Gopu to send the money to an account in Asia. The bank blocked the account.
Mr Hughes said all this started and stopped within a week and that the funds are still in Mr Gopu’s account, which is frozen.

The solicitor said his client had no intention to commit money laundering or deception. He does admit he should have asked questions when he was asked to transfer money to Asia, he did when the bank got in touch and found out the shop in Limerick had not operated for two years.

Mr Gopu is interested in IT, this is what he wants to get involved in, Mr Hughes said. He is currently working in cloud computing. This was a once-off incident with a very small element of recklessness, Mr Hughes said, adding that his client is more than happy to refund the injured parties with the funds currently locked in his account.
Judge Geraldine Carthy asked for a Probation Report to be prepared before she finalises the case. The matter was adjourned to December 13 to allow this.