Corrupt councillor ‘betrayed the people’

Former Fine Gael councilor Fred Forsey has been sentenced to six years with two suspended for taking bribes from a developer.

The former deputy mayor of Dungarvan was convicted last month of taking €80,000 in bribes in exchange for lobbying his colleagues to rezone agricultural land for residential and industrial use.

Forsey, aged 43, was caught when his estranged wife went to gardaí and told them about suspicious payments her husband had received. He later attempted to disguise the bribes as a loan by forging a backdated loan agreement with the developer.

Judge Gerard Griffin said he had no doubt that, if the rezoning had gone ahead, the industrial estate would be unoccupied and the houses would be “another ghost estate”.

Quoting the Mahon Tribunal report, the judge said that corruption was “a deeply corrosive force”.

“Corruption in public office is a fundamental breach of the trust of the electorate and incompatible with a democratic state.” He said that, rather than it being a victimless crime, the victims are “too numerous to identify individually”.

Judge Griffin said Forsey had “betrayed the people of Dungarvan and then tried to cover his tracks”. In mitigation, he accepted Forsey had no previous convictions and came from a respectable family. The judge suspended the final two years of the sentence for five years.

Judge Griffin also paid tribute to Forsey’s estranged wife, Jenny, who he said sustained “virulent attacks on her civic duty” while in the witness box.

Forsey, who maintains his innocence, remained stoic through the sentencing but his supporters and girlfriend broke down in tears as the prison term was handed down.

The court heard Forsey’s marriage broke down after he sent a text meant for his mistress to his 15-year-old daughter. After the corruption charges came to light he moved to Australia with his mistress. He was arrested when he returned for a wedding in 2009.

Forsey, of Coolagh Road, Abbeyside, Dungarvan, had pleaded not guilty at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court to six counts of corruption relating to lands outside Dungarvan between Aug and Dec 2006. The court heard Forsey lobbied his fellow councillors to have the lands rezoned. A vote was passed to rezone the lands, but was overturned by then environment minister John Gormley.

At the sentence hearing, Forsey took the stand and continued to deny the payments were received as bribes. He said he was lobbying to have the land rezoned to create employment for the area.

He said he was “living a double life and trying to keep up appearances” so he went to the developer to get a loan. He admitted this “loan” has never been repaid.

Forsey’s defence counsel presented evidence that he was currently involved in a start-up software company which could create dozens of jobs. A business partner of Forsey, Stephen Philips, said the business was unlikely to succeed without the accused.