Five people have been arrested by Longford Gardaí today as part of a major international investigation into money laundering and invoice fraud.
Local Gardaí along with The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau conducted five searches in Longford today and arrested four men and one woman in their late teens and 20s.
They have been arrested on suspicion of acting as and recruiting money mules, and have been detained in Longford and Mullingar Garda stations under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act.
The accused are also suspected of laundering money in bank accounts for a Criminal Organisation.
Today's arrests are part of operation SKEIN, an investigation into Criminal Organisations involved in worldwide invoice redirect fraud and the launder of the proceeds here in Ireland.
To date it's believed that 14 million euro out of a total of 15 and a half million euro has been laundered in Ireland.
Approximately 78 people have now been arrested who are connected to this Criminal Organisation, with more arrests expected in the future.
The four men and one woman arrested today in Longford can now be detained for up to 7 days.
