Pensioner faces 173 charges over €4m pharmacy fraud

A pharmacy owner in West Cork has appeared before court on 173 charges of deception and false accounting on dates across a six-year period, allegedly involving more than €4m.

Christine Crowley of Main Street, Drimoleague, who is aged 71, was arrested yesterday and brought before Clonakilty District Court.

The charges relate to allegations of false accounting and deception at Crowley’s Pharmacy and Kerr’s Pharmacy, both in Dunmanway, on dates between 2004 and 2009 and in order to gain in excess of €4.5m from the HSE.