A couple who ran an illegal money transfer business in Germany have been refused authorisation to trade as a money transfer business here.
Wilson Sesan Olayinka and Olakumbi Olayinka had sought authorisation for their company Westraven Finance, trading as Brinkspeed Services, in Newbridge, Co Kildare, to trade here. Most of its business related to the transmission of money from Ireland to Nigeria.
Authorisation was refused by the Financial Regulator which found that Brinkspeed's application had sought to mislead the office. The Financial Regulator also found that the firm's anti-money laundering procedures were "wholly inadequate".
"In particular, Brinkspeed had failed to inform the Financial Regulator that it had illegally operated a money transmission business in Germany and that German police had searched the premises from which it was operating in Aachen," the Financial Regulator found.
Brinkspeed appealed this decision in May and yesterday the Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal announced that it had affirmed the decision of the Financial Regulator.
This is the first judgment made by the appeals tribunal since its recent establishment. The Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Mr Justice Francis D Murphy, hears appeals against certain decisions made by the Financial Regulator.
