Inf luencer who allowed fraudster to use her bank account avoids jail
A ‘NAIVE’ model and social media influencer has avoided jail and a criminal record for letting a fraudster use her bank account to transfer crime proceeds.
Karine Lawani, 22, pleaded guilty in July to money laundering. The psychology student, who wants to be a prison therapist, claimed she unknowingly became involved after a man contacted her through the Snapchat messenger app.
Detective Garda John Saunderson told Dublin District Court that €5,430 was transferred into Lawani’s bank account on February 11 last year.
At the resumed hearing yesterday, Judge Bryan Smyth noted that Lawani paid back all the money.
In addition, a probation report stated she was at low risk of reoffending.
The pre-sentence report found Lawani to be at the ‘lowest end of recklessness, someone who was a victim of her own kindness’.
Judge Smyth said he thought an influencer would be tech-savvy and difficult to dupe. However, he applied the Probation of Offenders Act. It spares her a criminal record as well as a custodial sentence. Earlier, the court heard a Waterford-based firm had received an email purporting to be from a supplier seeking payment of an invoice. The company transferred the money as instructed, and there were two withdrawals from Lawani’s account on the same date.
Gardaí obtained CCTV evidence showing an ‘unknown male withdrawing €1,500 from the account’ at an ATM in the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre.
Lawani, of Foxborough Road, Lucan, Co. Dublin, took out €3,200 from a bank machine on Dublin’s O’Connell Street. Two days later, €700 was withdrawn.
Detective Garda Saunderson said Lawani was arrested in January. She claimed she saw a Snapchat message from a man looking for a Permanent TSB account so he could receive a payment from someone else.
The detective agreed Lawani was cooperative. She identified herself on CCTV footage and acknowledged it was her account. The bank was at a loss, not the company, the court heard.
Lawani, who is expecting a child, gave the court a written apology. She now lives in the UK and works as a model and influencer.
‘A victim of her own kindness’