Man gets four years for €40k welfare fraud

A FOUR-year jail sentence was imposed on a father of 10 who claimed over €40,000 in social welfare benefits at a time when he had €3.3 million going through one of his bank accounts and failed to pay €1.65m in tax.

Judge Patrick J Moran said while sentencing Daniel Kelleher, aged 42, of 13 Stoneyridge, Shanakiel, Cork: “I can only describe this as extreme fraud of the Department [of Social Welfare] and on the citizens of the state. I look on it as a very serious offence. The court has to give an example to people like you that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated.”

Judge Moran imposed a total sentence of four years’ imprisonment on him at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

This, the first case of its kind in the country, was a joint prosecution by the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Welfare, advanced by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Aidan Murphy of the Revenue Commissioners testified that Revenue estimated Kelleher’s tax liability at €1.65m for the years 2005 to 2009, excluding penalties and interest.

An investigation by Revenue uncovered several bank accounts linked to him.

In one of them — an AIB account — cash turnover of €3.3m was discovered for the years 2006 to 2008.

Mr Murphy said undertakings were given by Kelleher to pay the tax liability but no payment was made, and that Revenue was aware that he was engaged in ongoing activity hiring machinery and operating some kind of haulage business.

Tom Power, for the defence, said that because of other overpayments of tax, Kelleher could be due a tax rebate. “Perhaps you are being over-optimistic,” said Judge Moran.

Mr Power apologised on Kelleher’s behalf for not submitting some documentation to Revenue until yesterday but he said that a number of the companies with whom Kelleher had been dealing — for instance in supplying them concrete products — had since gone out of business and this caused some delay in getting documents.

Judge Moran said that it had been an extraordinary delay.

Brian Kearney of the Department of Social Welfare testified that Kelleher entered his local welfare office on March 13, 2006, and signed on for job seeker’s allowance, signing a declaration that he was neither employed nor self-employed, and describing himself as a farm labourer.

He was approved for payments and a total of €41,110 was paid to him between that date and February 2010.

Mr Power said Kelleher had particular remorse for claiming the dole, which he described as wrongful, foolish and stupid.

Mr Power said Kelleher had 10 children, his ex-wife was ill and that, in Kelleher’s own words, his head was all over the place at the time.

The sample charges to which Kelleher pleaded guilty were: failing to submit tax returns in 2007; failure to remit VAT on three separate two-month periods in 2005 and 2006; making incorrect VAT returns on three separate two-month periods in 2005, 2006 and 2007; making incorrect tax returns in 2005; and failure to submit VAT returns for two two-month periods in 2008.

At one stage in yesterday’s hearing, Judge Moran said: “It is really a failure to deliver various returns, which went on and on and on.”

Judge Moran added that Kelleher’s wrongdoing was only uncovered by the most detailed of investigations by Revenue, which commenced in August 2009.

Kelleher also admitted giving false or misleading information for the purpose of obtaining jobseeker’s allowance in March 2006 and a similar offence in September 2008.

Mr Kearney was asked if Kelleher had repaid any of the €41,110 he had fraudulently claimed and he replied: “Not a penny.”