An Irish citizen, with connections to county Roscommon, has been questioned by gardai as part of an international investigation into a major Covid 19 fraud operation.

An inquiry was launched after a fake order was placed for millions of masks destined for Germany.

German officials contracted a German based company to purchase 10 million face masks worth around 15 million euro to help in the fight against Covid 19.

This German based company was put in contact with a Dutch one through an Irish intermediary to place an order for 11 million masks worth up to 7.7 million euro.

However this order was made through a fraudulent entity who had cloned the website and email address of the legitimate Dutch company.

A one and a half million euro down payment was made for the delivery of the first million masks to an Irish bank account based in Roscommon.

In late March, reps from the German and Irish companies met in Amsterdam to inspect and oversee the handover of the shipment - but it never materialised.

An investigation was launched and 1.5 million euro has since been frozen in an Irish Bank Account.

With assistance from Gardai in Roscommon, on Friday last, the Irish man was interviewed relating to the suspected laundering of €1.5 million.

Documents and electronic devices were obtained and are currently being forensically examined and
investigations are ongoing.