IT worker took out €12k loan in ex-wife’s name after split

A Pakistani man aggrieved at debts he had run up paying for his wedding took out a €12,000 loan in his former wife’s name after the breakdown of their relationship.

Mohammed Umer Akram, aged 31, used the money to pay off the wedding debts and buy himself clothes and a car. His former wife only became aware of the offence when she received a letter of demand from the bank.

The court heard that after the loan was taken out in Mar 2007, the money was transferred into Akram’s account. A handwriting expert who examined the loan forms confirmed they had not been signed by Akram’s wife. The outstanding amount of the loan is currently just under €16,000.

Akram, of Whitethorn Park, Palmerstown, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dishonestly obtaining the loan from Ulster Bank on Mar 20, 2007. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Martin Nolan imposed a three-year sentence, which he suspended in full on condition that he hand over €4,000 within one week and a further €5,000 within one year for transmission to the bank.

Sean Ó Toghda BL, defending, said Akram and his former wife had separated at the end of 2006, having spent between €5,000 and €6,000 on the wedding earlier that year which left him in debt.

He said the pair parted on bad terms and he had negative feelings towards his former wife when he took out the loan, some of which he had used to repay the wedding debts. He spent the rest of the money on a car and clothing.

Mr Ó Toghda said Akram, who works in the IT department of a multinational courier company, came to Ireland in 2003 on a student visa and had been in employment ever since. He was now in a four-year relationship with an Irishwoman and they have a daughter.

He said Akram had access to €3,000 immediately and a further €1,000 at the end of the week. Akram had proposed that he and his family would move into his partner’s mother’s home, making available money they had prev-iously spent on rent.

Mr Ó Toghda said Akram’s mother in Pakistan had also put up the family home for sale.

Counsel said Akram had been in a bad emotional state at the time and regrets his actions and the harm he has caused to his wife and Ulster Bank.