Clerical officer jailed for passport fraud

A clerical officer who was paid €12,500 to process five passports for foreign nationals who were not entitled to them has been jailed for two years.

Barry Kindregan, aged 36, also organised passports for two others but never received the agreed payment.

Kindregan of Downside Heights, Skerries, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four sample charges including, possession of a false passport and three charges of corruptly agreeing to accept a sum of money in cash as a reward for providing a passport on dates between August 1, 2012 and July 2013. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Melanie Greally yesterday noted that Kindregan had come from an excellent family and had expressed genuine remorse, but said she had to balance this against the serious nature of the offence.

She said Kindregan had been in a position of trust and he hadn’t carried out any enquiries about the intended recipients of the passports, so she had to impose a custodial sentence.

Det Gda Joanne O’Sullivan agreed with Ronan Kennedy, defending, that his client was “not the prime mover” in the operation and was used to facilitate another person. She said she believed he was manipulated and deliberately targeted because of his known IT skills.

Mr Kennedy told Judge Greally that his client wanted to apologise from the bottom of his heart and it was a gross understatement to say he was deeply ashamed of himself.