A 50-year-old man who unlawfully claimed over €280,000 in social welfare payments has been sentenced to one-and-a-half years in jail.
John McDonagh, from Dalton Park, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, pleaded guilty to theft in connection with the social welfare fraud, unlawfully claiming a total of €282,881 in Jobseekers' Allowance payments from July 2009 until August 2022.
Over the same period, his bank accounts showed he had other lodgements totalling €382,000.
There were €8,000 worth of lodgements in the first year, but the annual figures increased to €85,000 before being detected when he claimed some of that money was from selling cars.
Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court was told that McDonagh's offences were uncovered following a Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) investigation.
A CAB officer agreed with prosecutor Cathal Ó Braonáin BL, instructed by State solicitor Matt Shaw, that McDonagh made his application for the benefit in July 2009.
Over the next 12 years, he kept signing official forms declaring that he was unemployed but genuinely seeking work.
During the CAB investigation, a social welfare officer examined payments into his accounts.
When questioned by gardaí, he spoke about vehicle ownership and accounts he opened, which revealed a large number of transactions.
Selling cars
However, the court heard that McDonagh said that while he could not recall a large portion of lodgements to his account due to the passing of time, the ones he did recall were from selling cars and lodging money from one bank to another.
Judge Keenan Johnson remarked on the irony that McDonagh has begun repaying the money using funds from his current social welfare payments.
He imposed sentences totalling six years, but suspended four-and-a-half years on condition McDonagh does not reoffend in the next five years. The prison term was post-dated to commence in July.
McDonagh has seven previous convictions, mainly from the District Court.
However, they included two more serious offences from a 2008 Circuit Court case for violent disorder and a weapons offence for unlawful possession of CS gas, which resulted in a suspended sentence and community service.
Dara Foynes SC, defending, asked Judge Johnson to note McDonagh had chronic health problems since 2021 and had needed life-saving treatment. Medical reports were handed into court in relation to his on-going health problems.
References from people he helped in his community were also furnished, and counsel submitted that incarceration would affect her client's repayment efforts.
McDonagh, who was granted legal aid, has paid the CAB and revenue a total of €44,167 to cover social welfare and income tax debt.
The court heard he is a carer for his wife, who also has health issues, and his elderly father depended on him.
Offences 'premeditated'
Sentencing him, Judge Johnson described the offences as premeditated, adding that they damaged the integrity of the social welfare system.
He said there needed to be a deterrent, and a message had to go out that engaging in social welfare fraud results in a custodial sentence.
Noting the accused's circumstances, Judge Johnson delayed the start of the sentence to allow McDonagh to put his affairs in order.
It will take effect on 10 July, when McDonagh must hand himself into his local garda station to be brought to jail.
