Broker took out fictitious policies to gain commission

A Meath insurance broker who took out 38 fictitious policies in order to be paid commission totalling €109,000 will be sentenced in October.

Clare Dooley, aged 43, who later founded Moneybloom which helped restructure loans for those in mortgage distress, committed the offences following a failed business venture in 2011.

The insurance company has since been repaid and nobody is at a loss.

Dooley, of Hillcrest, Julianstown, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 10 counts of making and using false declaration forms at New Ireland Assurance plc, Dawson St, Dublin and in the State between November 23, 2010, and September 27, 2011. She has no previous convictions.

Judge Desmond Hogan adjourned sentencing to October 8.

Garda Niamh Seberry told Maddie Grant, prosecuting, a complaint was made to gardaí in February 2013 by New Ireland Assurance regarding 38 fictitious policies using false information that had been taken out by Dooley.

Dooley had a financial services company and was working as an intermediary between clients and that company. She sent in the application forms and received commission on the policies.

Dooley was arrested and interviewed after garda searches at her home and business unearthed relevant files. The people named in the polices were unaware they had been taken out and were not at a loss.

Lorcan Staines, defending, submitted that the motive had not been permanent theft of the money and she would ultimately not have profited from the offences.

He said Dooley and her husband were in financial difficulties in 2011 after a failed business venture. Dooley, pregnant with her second child, was the sole breadwinner after her husband fell into a depression.