A man has been jailed for one year after he allowed his bank account to be used to receive money fraudulently from Trinity College’s hardship fund.
Judge Martin Nolan heard that in all €534,500 has been defrauded from the college, and that 295 individuals who are not students are being pursued in relation to the ill gotten money.
Michael Connor (50) of Lally Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 pleaded guilty to four counts of possession of the proceeds of criminal conduct between November 2020 and January 2021.
The court heard that there was no suggestion that the security guard made the application himself, but that he gave his bank account details over to a third party on the understanding that he would benefit from a small amount of the money extracted from the scheme.
He received €9,550 in 4 deposits which were paid out in November 2020, two in December 2020 and one in Jan 2021.
Carol Doherty BL told Judge Martin Nolan that there have not yet been prosecutions concluded in respect of the others individuals connected to the scheme and that therefore there were no sample sentences available to the court.
When interviewed by Gardaí Connor admitted recruiting others to join the scheme which he got involved in when he was “hard up for cash”, the court heard.
The security man is the sole carer for his 82 year old mother, who is “dependant” on him, and has a history of addictions to heroin, alcohol, and gambling.
Of his 22 previous convictions, the majority are for road traffic offences.
Judge Nolan said that Connor had involved himself in a “considerable fraud” and that an aggravating factore was that he had received four payments.
He said that those behind the scheme had “spotted a weakness in the system” which they had exploited to extract the funds.
Connor was sentenced to one year in jail from today’s date.