GUILTY PLEA 

Dad-of-11 jailed after claiming €228k cash sum came from begging and selling Big Issue

• Published: 17:09, 21 Jun 2023
• Updated: 17:09, 21 Jun 2023

A DAD-OF 11 was jailed for three years today for his role in managing over €228k in cash from a family crime gang. 

Chilimbar Vasile, who owns a large house in his native Romania along with three cars, claimed the money was accumulated over a four year period from 2017 to 2021, by selling the Big Issue and begging.

Vasile, with an address at Eagle Valley, Sarsfield Road, Wilton, Cork, pleaded guilty to a charge of money laundering resulting from money being credited to an AIB account in another name knowing it was the proceeds of crime, in the Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The Court heard Vasile was on a disability allowance of €445 weekly and to date had received a rent allowance of €164,415.

Detective Garda David Kelleher told the court that when Vasile’s smartphone was checked it had a number of photographs of the house in Romania and had a CCTV monitoring system on it for monitoring the property in his native country.

A check with Europol revealed that Vasile is the registered owner of the property which stands on a third of an acre and has an annex of 20 sq metres and a large shed. No mortgage is listed for the house.