A woman, who falsely brought a €60,000 personal injuries claim before the Circuit Court after claiming she was a passenger in a car involved in an accident has been sentenced to two years in prison, with the last nine months suspended.
Kristina Mieliauskaite, 38, with a former address of Oliver Plunkett Street, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, appeared this afternoon before Judge Kenneth Connolly at a sitting of Longford Circuit Court.
Two co-accused, Janis Bukks, 34, of Mostrim Oaks, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, and Diana Jakubovskaja, of Cúirt An Óir, Athlone Road, Longford, also appeared.
All three co-accused were charged with attempting to make gain or cause loss to another by deception, and with making false statements.
Garda Denise Dockery, in evidence, told the court that, shortly before 2pm on 10 April, 2018, she was made aware of a two-vehicle traffic collision.
When Garda Dockery arrived at the scene, she observed a black Volkswagen Passat, which had been driven by Mr Bukks, and a blue Volkswagen Golf, which had been driven by Ms Jakubovskaja.
Garda Dockery was told that Mr Bukks had rear-ended Ms Jakubovskaja after she had slowed down for a car in front of her to turn off the road.
They told Garda Dockery that they did not know each other, and Mr Jakubovskaja said that there was no passenger in her vehicle at the time of the crash.
When Garda Dockery spoke to Mr Bukks, she learned he was the holder of a full licence and that he was insured with Liberty Insurance. He said he was moving house from Drumlish to Longford that day.
Private investigation company hired
Two personal injury claims were made through his insurance company. One of those claims was by Ms Jakubovskaja for damages done to her car and personal injuries.
The other was made by Ms Mieliauskaite, who claimed she was a passenger in the back seat of Ms Jakubovskaja's vehicle.
However, Garda Dockery told the court, there was no backseat passenger in the car when she arrived, and there was no mention of a passenger until later in an interview where Ms Jakubovskaja said she was "in shock" following the accident and forgot there was a passenger.
The insurance company hired a private investigation company in the UK to look into the online links between all parties.
A number of documents were supplied to the insurance company, showing Mr Bukks to be a named driver on Ms Jakubovskaja's insurance policy.
Further investigation by the insurance company uncovered an email address linked to both Mr Bukks and Ms Jakubovskaja.
A number of screenshots were also provided, which showed all three co-accused to be friends on Facebook.
Discrepancies in statements
When Mr Bukks was arrested, a number of discrepancies with his statement to Liberty Insurance came to light.
He had told the insurance company that he did not know either of the women in the other car.
However, when interviewed by gardaí, he said he had met Ms Jakubovskaja two days before the accident.
Ms Jakubovskaja, when interviewed by gardaí, said that Mr Bukks had been her boyfriend since January 2018.
It was later discovered that she had sought a quote from the insurance company, with Mr Bukks listed as a named driver on her policy.
When Ms Mieliauskaite was interviewed by gardaí, she said that she was a backseat passenger in the car and that she had left the scene to collect her daughter before gardaí arrived.
Following the accident, she had brought personal injury claims in excess of €60,000 before the Circuit Court.
A total of €25,900.79 was spent by the insurance company throughout the claims process - €3,879.69 of that was correctly paid to Ms Jakubovskaja for damages to her vehicle.
Neither Ms Bukks nor Ms Jakubovskaja has any previous convictions.
However, Ms Mieliauskaite has five drug-related previous convictions within the jurisdiction, as well as a number of theft convictions in the UK.
Those drug convictions relate to possession of drugs for sale or supply and the illegal importing or exporting of drugs over the value of €13,000.
Following those convictions, she was given a three-year suspended prison sentence at Dublin Circuit Court and ordered to leave the country and not return for five years. She complied with the order.
'No context' for Mieliauskaite's involvement - judge
When passing sentence, Judge Kenneth Connolly noted that the entire case was set against the backdrop of a genuine car crash, which had occurred between two people, but did not involve Ms Mieliauskaite.
"Ms Mieliauskaite became involved and pursued a personal injuries claim and I can see absolutely no context for her involvement," he said.
He noted that there was "quite an elaborate tale of medical treatment" arising from a "non-event", as well as an itemised list of expenses amounting to €60,000 in damages.
"There is a level of barefaced premeditation, and seeking up to €60,000 in the Circuit Court is a level of gall that is fortunately rarely seen before this court," he said.
He noted she has significant previous convictions and, while she has been punished for those, she had also had "the benefit of a suspended sentence but squandered it".
He noted a plea of guilty was entered very late in the case but was nonetheless appreciated.
Taking all factors into consideration, he sentenced Ms Mieliauskaite to two years in prison, suspending the final nine months for a period of 18 months.
"There is justification in suspending part of the sentence, but I'm still absolutely satisfied the custodial threshold has been met," he said.
Ms Jakubovskaja, he said, appeared "blameless" in the accident and "would have been entitled to recover monies for personal injuries but for the deceit".
"She participated in a scheme of allowing her friend to allege she had been a passenger in the car," he said.
He said her culpability was "somewhat less" as she was "genuinely involved in an accident".
He proceeded to sentence Ms Jakubovskaja to two years in prison but suspended the sentence in its entirety for five years.
A €3,000 sum in court was ordered to be handed over to Liberty Insurance and she is to have a further €2,000 within 12 months.
Mr Bukks’ case has been adjourned to the January sittings of Longford Circuit Court. He has been remanded on bail until then.
