‘Graves for sale’ scam man gets two years in jail

A 61-year-old man who stole over €20,000 in a “graves for sale” scam has been jailed for two years.

At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Carroll Moran imposed the sentence on Sean Leamy of Main St, Tulla, who robbed his employers, Clare County Council of €20,339 over 10 years.

It emerged in court he was stealing from the council by not passing on, to the authority, grave-plot fees he was receiving from grieving families and people buying plots between Sept 1999 and Jun 2009.

Leamy pleaded guilty to 50 charges concerning the theft and larceny from the council concerning the sale of burial plots at Clonlea Graveyard, Kilkishen, Co Clare over 10 years. He was employed as graveyard caretaker and registrar.

According to Det Garda John Mulvihill, Leamy committed the crime to help pay toward a €36,000 mortgage he had taken out to pay for renovations at his home in 1994.

Det Mulvihill said that as part of the fraud, Leamy would always insist on cash for the grave plots or cheques made out to cash.

Det Mulvihill said Leamy was caught in 2009 after the council conducted an internal investigation.

Leamy paid the outstanding amount to the council in full after securing a loan from a credit union.

Judge Moran backdated the jail sentence to January of this year when Leamy initially pleaded guilty.