"Money mules" who transfer money to fraudsters or withdraw cash for them through ATMs will have to compensate the ENTIRE amount of "laundered" money to the budget. And not just the small part that is their personal reward.
As the press secretary of the Latvian Prosecutor's Office Aiga Eiduka explained, during the trial of a specific case of "money mules", the Supreme Court (Senate) I confirmed it.
Let us remind you in this regard: a "money mule" is a person who uses his personal account for a fee to transfer money to fraudsters. That is: "mules" help, for example, telephone scammers to withdraw money from accounts, transfer them, turn them into cash. This job is usually offered to young people, students: for "almost nothing to do" you can get a lot of money for them. The problem is that many of them often do not realize that they are committing a criminal offense.
However, as we will see from the specific case, this can be very expensive.
Defense: They got some themselves!
On March 13, 2024, the Senate refused to initiate cassation proceedings in connection with the complaint of the defense of the accused against the verdict of the Riga District Court of November 21, 2023 regarding the application of article 70.14 of the Criminal Law in the case of money laundering.
The Senate left unchanged the decision of the Riga District Court to recover the ENTIRE legalized amount-regardless of how much the accused "mules" earn themselves.
As the investigation established, the accused received money obtained criminally by another person. Some of these funds were kept by the "mules" as a reward, and some were transferred further to another person under investigation. That is, they committed "laundering".
At the same time, the court of first instance recognized that since the accused themselves received only a part, this part will be discussed in the recovery.
However, the prosecutor appealed the verdict and the Riga District Court overturned the verdict of the court of first instance on non-recovery of all money obtained by criminal means from the defendants in favor of the state.
The Senate stated in its decision: the Riga District Court decided correctly.
The decision of the Senate is not subject to appeal.
How "mules" had to return more than 45,000 rubles
We also note that the amount of money in cases of "money laundering" is sometimes large.
In March last year, it became known that the Economic Court, considering a case of money laundering, which was committed using a network of so-called "money mules", decided to approve the results of a plea bargain and punishment concluded between the prosecutor and 12 defendants.
At the same time, before the conclusion of the agreement, almost 45,000 euros were collected from the defendants, and an agreement was reached on the voluntary return of the remaining part of the criminally acquired funds to the state treasury.
The defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to five years, depending on each defendant's role in the organized group. For 11 members of the group, the terms were imposed conditionally and with a probationary period.
In total, 14 defendants were tried in the case, one of whom turned out to be a German citizen, and all his accomplices were Latvian citizens. It should be noted that in total the group of "mules" included more than 90 people. (A large-scale investigation of this criminal case was conducted jointly with Eurojust).
Members of the group legalized in Latvia funds criminally obtained abroad in the course of fraud and other crimes.
• Source: https://prokuratura.lv/lv/aktualita...s-piedzinu-ta-devetaja-naudas-mulu-lieta-3142
As the press secretary of the Latvian Prosecutor's Office Aiga Eiduka explained, during the trial of a specific case of "money mules", the Supreme Court (Senate) I confirmed it.
Let us remind you in this regard: a "money mule" is a person who uses his personal account for a fee to transfer money to fraudsters. That is: "mules" help, for example, telephone scammers to withdraw money from accounts, transfer them, turn them into cash. This job is usually offered to young people, students: for "almost nothing to do" you can get a lot of money for them. The problem is that many of them often do not realize that they are committing a criminal offense.
However, as we will see from the specific case, this can be very expensive.
Defense: They got some themselves!
On March 13, 2024, the Senate refused to initiate cassation proceedings in connection with the complaint of the defense of the accused against the verdict of the Riga District Court of November 21, 2023 regarding the application of article 70.14 of the Criminal Law in the case of money laundering.
The Senate left unchanged the decision of the Riga District Court to recover the ENTIRE legalized amount-regardless of how much the accused "mules" earn themselves.
As the investigation established, the accused received money obtained criminally by another person. Some of these funds were kept by the "mules" as a reward, and some were transferred further to another person under investigation. That is, they committed "laundering".
At the same time, the court of first instance recognized that since the accused themselves received only a part, this part will be discussed in the recovery.
However, the prosecutor appealed the verdict and the Riga District Court overturned the verdict of the court of first instance on non-recovery of all money obtained by criminal means from the defendants in favor of the state.
The Senate stated in its decision: the Riga District Court decided correctly.
The decision of the Senate is not subject to appeal.
How "mules" had to return more than 45,000 rubles
We also note that the amount of money in cases of "money laundering" is sometimes large.
In March last year, it became known that the Economic Court, considering a case of money laundering, which was committed using a network of so-called "money mules", decided to approve the results of a plea bargain and punishment concluded between the prosecutor and 12 defendants.
At the same time, before the conclusion of the agreement, almost 45,000 euros were collected from the defendants, and an agreement was reached on the voluntary return of the remaining part of the criminally acquired funds to the state treasury.
The defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to five years, depending on each defendant's role in the organized group. For 11 members of the group, the terms were imposed conditionally and with a probationary period.
In total, 14 defendants were tried in the case, one of whom turned out to be a German citizen, and all his accomplices were Latvian citizens. It should be noted that in total the group of "mules" included more than 90 people. (A large-scale investigation of this criminal case was conducted jointly with Eurojust).
Members of the group legalized in Latvia funds criminally obtained abroad in the course of fraud and other crimes.
• Source: https://prokuratura.lv/lv/aktualita...s-piedzinu-ta-devetaja-naudas-mulu-lieta-3142
