A District Court judge who closed down a charity shop and soup kitchen in Sligo last week has said that the man behind it has to be "stopped in his tracks."
Oliver Williams, with an address in Loughrea, Co Galway, has pleaded guilty at Sligo District Court to nine charges under the Charities Act.
The charges relate to his failure to register the Twist Soup Kitchen and Charity Shop as a charity and the production of an Easter Rising commemoration calendar with a false charity registration number on it.
The court heard that Williams has 20 previous convictions.
His last conviction was at Loughrea District Court under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act, when he was given a two-month suspended sentence.
Williams also has convictions for obtaining services by deception and holding collections without a permit.
An investigator employed by the Charities Regulator told the court he visited the Twist Charity shop on four occasions and witnessed people making purchases.
He said the money was put in a box under the counter and there was no sign of a cash register, no receipts were issued and the sales were not recorded in a book.
He discovered that the telephone number over the door of both the charity shop and soup kitchen corresponded with Williams Car Care, a business operated by Williams in Loughrea but which, the court was told, has been closed since September last.
Last week, Judge Kevin Kilraine directed that the soup kitchen and charity shop be closed down and that Mr Williams hand over any money from the shop to his solicitor Tom MacSharry, along with financial documents, pending today's hearing of the case.
In court today, it emerged that Mr Williams had given the documents to Mr MacSharry but had given the money, €132.50, to the landlord of the shop premises who, he said, was also applying to be a trustee of the charity.
Judge Kevin Kilraine questioned Williams about the application he had submitted to the Charities Regulator for charitable status since last week's court and expressed surprise that he struggled to name the two people included on the form as trustees.
Barrister Donal Keane said the names were in Irish and were spelled unusually.
Judge Kilraine said there were a number of worrying aspects to this case including Williams' previous conviction for fraud and he said it was very important that he be stopped in his tracks.
Judge Kilraine said that the entire charity business has come under scrutiny hugely in the past number of years with breaches ranging from well meaning and naive to downright criminality.
As a result he said genuine charities have suffered.
Judge Kilraine sentenced Williams to a five-month suspended jail sentence on each count.
He attached conditions that Williams will not engage directly or indirectly in any alleged charitable business for two years and that he will not apply for charitable registration in his own name or anybody else's name.
A man has been given a five-month suspended sentence after failing to register a Sligo soup kitchen as a charity https://t.co/nr2CXUOFOt pic.twitter.com/IOGaJjvHtq
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 2, 2017
Case is the first taken by Charities Regulator
The case against Williams was the first taken by the Charities Regulator.
Welcoming the outcome, its chief executive John Farrelly said that it vindicates the need to have a Charities Act in Ireland.
"I have taken this action to protect the public and all properly registered charities," said Mr Farrelly.
"In this case, Mr Williams had never registered this or any of his businesses as charities but was taking money from the public on the basis that he was operating a charity. As Regulator I had no choice but to prosecute."
He added that his office is "mindful of the beneficiaries of the organisation and is working with a local charity to ensure that any necessary support is available to them."
"We will continue to apply the law without fear or favour in order to protect the good work of the thousands of good people in registered charities throughout Ireland" Mr Farrelly stated.
