An investigation has revealed that over 1,000 people in Ireland are connected to a €70 million global Black Axe fraud scam.

According to The Irish Sun, 84 people were arrested under the country’s organised crime legislation in January, while detectives from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau investigating the Black Axe crime syndicate in Ireland have arrested 327 people for money laundering.

The latest operation carried out by law enforcement agents in the country led to the arrest of Clovis Asongwe, a senior gang member of the Black Axe.

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The 36-year-old Nigerian subsequently received a six-year prison sentence for participating in acts that enhanced the criminal organisation’s chances of perpetrating fraud in Ireland.

He was also sentenced to four-and-a-half years for three money laundering charges. Both sentences will run concurrently.

Twenty-two children were sent to juvenile diversion programmes after allowing their bank accounts to be used for fraudulent transactions by the notorious gang.

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The scam perpetrated by the Black Axe, known as Business Email Compromise (BEC), involved cloning the official email addresses of legitimate companies and convincing them to change their suppliers’ bank details. Members of the gang then asked clients to send their payments to the different accounts in Ireland that they had control over. The moment funds were sent to the accounts, they were transferred to other accounts in the United Kingdom (UK) and Portugal.