36 year old Oluwagbewikeke Lewis from Brookdale, Midleton and 45 year old Bashiru Aderibigbe, formally of Midleton but now living in Ballincollig both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering at a previous sitting of Cork Circuit Criminal Court at the start of this month.
The two men were arrested after the details of 74 HSE and Tusla employees were stolen in an online scam and used to apply for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
Lewis also pleaded guilty to 11 other charges including being in possession of a stolen passport, a forged passport and forged bank statements.
The court previously heard that 121 PUP applications worth over €183,000 were made.
57 bank accounts have been frozen, however €120,000 remains unaccounted for.
Today in Court Judge Helen Boyle said both men had knowingly become involved with a criminal enterprise and also noted that their guilty pleas had saved the state considerable time, money and effort.
She noted that neither man had a previous conviction, were low level members of the criminal gang involved and had paid compensation amounting to €5,000 for Lewis and €12,000 for Aderibigbe.
She also said that the men showed no trappings of wealth.
Judge Boyle said she wanted both sentences to act as a deterrent against cyber crime and sentenced Lewis to 4 years in prison with the final year suspended and also handed him a 2 year sentence to be served concurrently for the other charges.
Aderibigbe was given a 3 and a half year jail term with the final year suspended.
