A woman allegedly spent €750,000 on luxury handbags in a Dublin store as part of a money laundering scheme, a court has heard – The Irish Times

A woman has appeared in court accused of laundering more than €1 million, including €750,000 allegedly spent at a Dublin department store on luxury handbags.

Yuwen Yun (33), a Chinese national with an address at Fairy Hill, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, appeared before Dun Laoghaire District Court on Wednesday morning after being charged with three counts of money laundering contrary to s. 7 of the Penal Code (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) of 2010.

Attorney Tracy Horan filed a bail application for Ms. Yun, a mother of two.

Detective Garda Steven Dunican, of Blackrock Garda Station, said Ms Yun was arrested and charged with spending €750,000 on luxury handbags, having €350,000 worth of luxury handbags in her home and transferring €250,000 through a bank account.

He told Judge Anne Watkin the case stemmed from an investigation into a complex money laundering scheme and the allegations were serious.

He said gardaí were concerned that Ms Yun might run away, but noting that one of her children was very young, he made it clear that gardaí would grant bail conditional on her handing over her Chinese passport.

The judge, who was told that the DPP had consented to the case being referred to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for indictment, granted bail and adjourned the case to January 7 for service of the book of evidence.