A County Roscommon resident was questioned in Roscommon Garda Station last Friday in connection with an international €15m Covid-19 scam involving ‘phantom’ personal protective equipment which had been earmarked for frontline workers.
Detectives from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, with assistance from Gardaí from Co. Roscommon, interviewed the man on Friday last, April 10th.
The man, who is in his late forties, is believed to be originally from Co. Clare but is now living in Co. Roscommon,
Specialist officers spoke to him in connection over the suspected laundering of €1.5 million into a bank account in Roscommon – an offence that carries a maximum prison term of 14 years after conviction. The man is cooperating with the investigation and has not been charged.
During the ongoing investigations, documents and electronic devices were obtained and these are currently being forensically examined.
The development in Roscommon is part of a joint investigation by Irish, German and Dutch Financial Intelligence Units – supported by Interpol, Europol, Eurojust and the relevant national authorities – into what Gardai described as “an international Covid-19 fraud investigation”.
