An administrator at a large credit union in Cork city has been jailed for two years after she confessed to stealing €325,000 over a five-year period.
Leona Daly, with an address at Meadow Avenue, the Meadows, Hollyhill, Cork had pleaded guilty earlier this year to 167 theft and fraud offences at the Knocknaheeny/Hollyhill branch of Gurranabraher Credit Union.
The thefts involved sums from €500 to €11,000.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court was told that when the financial irregularities came to light, Ms Daly attended the Bridewell Garda Station in Cork in a voluntary capacity and made a full admission.
A proposal was made to Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin that the former Credit Union worker would pay back €1,600 a month over a period of five years.
The court was told that she had handed in €8,000 by way of compensation earlier this year and a further €2,000 was paid into court today.
Her husband, David Daly, whom the court heard had no knowledge of his wife's theft, gave an understanding to the court to sell his car and to make the monthly payments.
However, Judge Ó Donnabháin said the proposals put forward for financial compensation were completely unrealistic and "not deliverable".
He accepted that Mr Daly was "completely innocent" and was not privy to the irregularities his wife was committing.
No explanation was given as to where the funds were spent or the motivation for the theft. The court was told that Ms Daly suffered from "chronic depression".
Judge Ó Donnabháin described the breach of trust as being "phenomenal" particularly given that credit unions are local financial institutions set up for the benefit of members.
He acknowledged that her guilty plea had been of benefit to the State as fraud is difficult to prove and trials of this nature can be "complicated and difficult".
Judge Ó Donnabháin said a custodial sentence had to be imposed following a breach of this magnitude.
He sentenced Ms Daly to two years in prison.
In a statement read out to the court, Gurranabraher Credit Union said it had suffered "reputational damage" arising out of the theft of the funds by their employee.
The credit union emphasised its difficulty with the breach of trust, which occurred between 2011 and 2016.
