Money laundering trial continues in Dublin

By Jessica Magee and Aoife Nic Ardghail

A Lithuanian man stopped at Dublin Aiport with €45,550 that had allegedly been laundered said he lied to customs officials because he was “in shock”.

Audronis Bieliauskas (28) of Crosby Road, Forest Gate, London in the UK, has denied possessing the cash as the proceeds of crime on October 15, 2010.

His co-accused Deividas Petrauskas (31), of Oak Manor, Drumgola Woods, Co Cavan, has pleaded not guilty to the same charge.

Mr Bieliauskas was stopped at Dublin Airport when customs dogs reacted to his luggage during a controlled screening of passengers flying from Dublin to Amsterdam.

He initially told customs officials that his bag contained €5,000, then €20,000, before admitting that the amount was about €45,000.

He said his friend, Mr Petrauskas, had given him a loan of the money to buy cars in Amsterdam for his family business in car dealership.

Mr Bieliauskas was arrested eight months later and agreed with gardaí that he had lied to customs officials in order to get his money back.

Detective Garda Richard Lynch told Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting, that he arrested Mr Bieliauskas and asked him why he had lied at the airport.

“I was in shock, so I tell one story, then another story,” Mr Bieliauskas told gardaí.

He said customs had seized the money because it was a large sum and he hadn't realised he was supposed to declare it.

Mr Bieliauskas said he had arrived in Dublin on a flight from London and had been picked up at the airport by his friend's friend.

They drove around for five or ten minutes and he was given the money in a big envelope in €50 notes, which he then put “in a few places” in his bag.

Mr Bieliauskas said he was “in depression” for two months after the money was seized by customs.

He said he had been friends with Mr Petrauskas for ten years, since they met at a car market in Lithuania.

“We were dealers and best-time friends,” he said.

He claimed Mr Petrauskas had loaned him the money so that he could buy about ten cars in Amsterdam for the car company where his father worked as an agent.

When asked how Mr Petrauskas could have managed to come up with €45,000 from working as a delivery man in a recession, Mr Bieliauskas replied: “savings maybe”.

He said his friend had a big firm and had previously given him a loan in Lithuania.

The trial continues before Judge Patricia Ryan and a jury of seven men and five women at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. It's due to finish by Friday.