Woman flew from Japan to Dublin on promise of €6.8m from 'two-star US general'

The ‘general’ told Ms Takekoshi that a container filled with currency worth $10.5m (€6.8m) was at a bonded warehouse in Dublin, and that she would give Ms Takekoshi access to it for €8,990. Ms Takekoshi flew into Dublin Airport on July 15, 2014, where she met Pracz, who claimed to be a UN diplomat named Sandra Daly.

Pracz brought Ms Takekoshi to an airport bar and took the money, before promising to call Takekoshi with details of the container of cash, the court heard.

Ms Takekoshi became suspicious after the meeting and went to the Japanese embassy, which contacted the gardaí.

Pracz, a Polish national, was arrested on the M1 motorway days later, after gardaí recognised her car from airport CCTV footage. She claimed she had met a man named ‘James’, of Nigerian or Ghanaian background, in a pub and that he organised the deal and she was just the “cash collector”. She said she had financial difficulties.

When police searched Pracz’s home, they recovered €4,000 and a laptop, Gda Ledwith said. He said Pracz claimed she tried to contact James, but couldn’t, so she spent the other half of the money on her debts. Garda experts were unable to hack into the laptop, which was heavily encrypted, and Pracz said she couldn’t remember the password.

Pracz has lived in Ireland since 2006 and has no previous convictions here. She has three convictions for fraud-related offences in Poland.

Judge Patrick McCartan said he had reservations about Pracz’s version and that it is “difficult to believe” Pracz met a stranger in a pub and agreed to get involved in the scam.

He adjourned for sentencing on June 2.