A woman in her 60s was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of acting as an investment intermediary within the State without the authority of the Central Bank.
As part of an ongoing investigation, Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) personnel detained the woman on Thursday morning following searches in the south Dublin area.
The woman was being detained at Irishtown Garda station under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.
Acting as an investment intermediary within the State without the authority of the Central Bank is an offence contrary to section 9 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995.
The arrest was in connection with a suspected investment scam in which money that had been provided for the purposes of investment was transferred to Virtual Asset Service Providers (Vasps) and converted to cryptocurrency, with the virtual assets then transferred and moved through the blockchain.
Other amounts of money were transferred internationally to international banks.
A Garda statement said that, following inquiries and collaboration with banks, the GNECB managed to identify a person who had transferred almost €1 million for the purposes of an “investment”. Following co-operation with the relevant financial institutions, almost 50 per cent of this €1 million sum was frozen and returned to the victim, the statement added.