Estate agent stole €1.6m

A FORMER estate agent who stole €1.6 million after he used solicitor Gerald Kean’s name to encourage 25 investors to take part in a “Ponzi” scheme has been jailed for six years.

Eamonn Kelly, aged 48, told investors they could make €15,000 profit on a €50,000 investment within six months, if they bought sites he claimed he had identified in Britain.

He subsequently used funds from later investors to repay profits to the early investors to encourage them to re-invest in the scheme.

Kelly, of Decies Road, Ballyfermot, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to a number of sample charges of theft, one of producing a false instrument and one of forgery on dates between October 2007 and February 2010. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Martin Nolan said the crime “involved deception, severe losses to some and breaches of trust”.

The case was adjourned to allow the state time to consider what should be done with money frozen in Kelly’s account.