A man in his late 20s, who was arrested in connection with an international money laundering gang, who used Irish accounts to perform their fraud, has been charged and remains in custody.

The man, who was arrested on Wednesday June 3, appeared before the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin two days later, having been charged in connection with the international gang.

The gang in question is suspected of laundering more than €1.5m in 90 separate bank accounts across the country.

The arrest was made after gardaí from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, in conjunction with Europol, Eurojust and other EU Police forces, conducted an investigation into an Organised Crime Group involved in cyber based frauds including bogus online sales and accommodation frauds.

The Fraud Squad investigated the gang as part of planned operations. They are thought to have been tricking people throughout the EU into purchasing goods online but not delivering them the goods. 

Officers carried out a number of early morning searches in the Artane area of the capital’s northside on Wednesday.

“False passports, details of false bank accounts, equipment including laptops, phones, prints, laminators which are suspected of use in the manufacture of these false passports, along with an amount of cash, were seized,” a Garda spokeswoman said yesterday.

The Irish Independent can reveal the gang at the centre of the lengthy investigation by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) is suspected of carrying out thousands of organised frauds in other EU countries and then using Irish financial institutions to launder the cash.

The man, who was arrested under Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 is currently detained under the provisions of Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 and will remain at Coolock Garda Station until July 12 of this year.

This investigation is ongoing.

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