A MAN HAS been arrested in Dublin following a search that was conducted as part of an international fraud investigation. 

Gardaí from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) arrested a man in his 20s yesterday and seized a number of items, including a Range Rover, during a search of a residence in West Tallaght. 

The man is a suspected “money mule herder” who is accused of recruiting money mules and managing their bank accounts.

In addition to the “high value” Range Rover, which is suspected by gardaí to have been purchased with the proceeds of crime, a number of other items were seized.

This included a number of Passports, bank cards in the names of suspected money mules, cash in euros and dollars, a cash counting machine, 30 mobile phones, and a desktop computer and laptop.

The man was arrested for an offence contrary to the Criminal Justice Act 2006 and is currently detained at a Garda station in Dublin.

A garda spokesperson said up to 50 different money mules are identified as having laundered over €196,000 through his bank accounts in Ireland, Germany and Belgium.

The spokesperson added that the money came from victims of mainly smishing frauds in Ireland.

Smishing is a form of fraud that usually takes place through texts on mobile phones.

Typically, the fraudsters impersonate a trusted organization, such as a bank, and attempt to steal identifying information, such as account usernames and passwords, bank account information or credit card numbers.

A man in his 50s was also arrested during the course of yesterday’s search for immigration offences and is being detained pending his removal from the country.