A man who defrauded people out of more than €27,000 in an 'apartment scam' in Dublin has been jailed for two years.
48-year-old Joseph O'Connor of Decies Road, Ballyfermot, was given a three-year sentence, with one year suspended, after he pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to inducing people to pay him money for the lease of an apartment in April 2006.
Over the course of four days in April 2006, O'Connor showed prospective tenants around an apartment in Ballsbridge.
He wanted €1,150 per month in rent payable in advance, and a similar amount upfront as a deposit.
He gave keys to prospective tenants, a lease, and codes for the security gates.
However, the apartment was not Joseph O'Connor's - he was involved in a scam whereby false documents and a false identity had been used to obtain the lease on the apartment from a Dublin auctioneer.
O'Connor was arrested almost a year later and today was jailed for two years after admitting the fraud.
The court heard that O'Connor has no money and none of those who were duped have been reimbursed.
