Former RTE star 'taken advantage of' as she avoids jail over money laundering scam

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Former 2FM DJ Nikki Hayes has said she was "taken advantage of" as she opened up about avoiding jail over a money laundering scam.
The Dubliner, who had her own show on RTE 2FM from 2003 to 2010, avoided a criminal conviction and jail time last October for her part in a money-laundering scam after the court accepted that she was a vulnerable person who was taken advantage of. The court was told the money - about €15,000 lodged into her bank account as part of a laundering scam - had been repaid and Nikki had not gained financially.
The judge also said she had shown a complete turnaround and would not serve any sentence or have a criminal record. Opening up about the court case, Nikki – whose real name is Eimear O'Keeffe - said: "You're locked away in rehab for months and then suddenly you're out and there's cameras in your face.
"My key worker was with me and she held my hand and said, 'Just keep praying until we get to the car', and as we walked there was a guy with a TV camera who ran up behind us and I just kept praying and praying until I got in."
Some people trolled her about the case on social media. "It's been proven, the Garda from the fraud squad said at the court case that I was genuinely taken advantage of and had nothing to do with what happened, which is why I was discharged from the indictment," she said.
Nikki also told the Sunday Independent that she ended up homeless in 2023 after she lost her job and got in with the wrong crowd. She admitted she had been drinking during her days as an RTÉ radio DJ but that she was "scarily high-functioning" and drank six bottles of wine per day as she broadcast her radio show from home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
When she became homeless in 2023, she used to sleep in the doorway of the Penneys store on O'Connell Street or on a bench near the Jervis shopping centre. "I had a blue sleeping bag with cardboard underneath. That cold feeling when you're so wet and you feel dirty... it was just horrendous."
She said she hit rock bottom one night as she watched a crowd of people pass her coming out of a nightclub, and she felt "invisible". Nikki said: "I felt so ashamed and dirty and like a piece of trash, and then two Gardaí walked by and they didn't even look at me."
The 46-year-old has since gone through an 18-month rehabilitation programme in Tiglin to detox herself from drugs and alcohol. Now that she is back on track, Nikki added that her 12-year-old daughter is keeping her motivated. She added: "I have my daughter, she has her mother present now, and that's what's important."
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