Two men who fraudulently claimed €180k in PUP jailed

Accused were 'low-level operatives' in a criminal organisation, Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard

Judge Boyle said the first phase of the crime was a significant data breach where emails of HSE staff were harvested and people were then sent bogus jury summonses which requested further information that was then used to set up bank accounts. Picture: iStock

Targeting a scheme designed to assist people in greatest financial need in the pandemic was an aggravating factor in the elaborate €183,000 fraud for which two men have been jailed.

Judge Helen Boyle said: “Cybercrime is a relatively new crime and it has to be shown that people should not be tempted to get involved in this, no matter what type of financial difficulties they have. If you become involved in it you will face a prison sentence.” 

The judge at Cork Circuit Criminal Court said: “Both accused intended to assist a criminal organisation, effectively in cybercrime.” 

One was jailed for three years, another for two-and-a-half years.

Judge Boyle said the first phase of the crime was a significant data breach where emails of HSE staff were harvested and people were then sent bogus jury summonses which requested further information that was then used to set up bank accounts.

“They induced people to hand over their data in relation to a fraudulent court service summons. As people thought they were doing their duty as citizens, in fact the date was being stolen and it was used to open false bank accounts and make fraudulent PUP claims.

“In terms of the gravity of the offence it is my view – considering the offence of conspiring to launder money – this is a serious offence. You breached the social contract to which all State citizens are expected to adhere. You knowingly participated in false claims.

You set out to defraud a scheme which was set up to help out people in genuine financial difficulty due to the pandemic.” 

The judge accepted from submissions by barristers Sinéad Behan and Tom Power that the defendants were “low-level operatives” but that one of them was slightly higher in the chain and had contact with the leader of the criminal organisation, referred to as The Chairman.

Between April and December 2020, PUP payments totalling over €180,000 were paid into fraudulently opened accounts.

Judge Boyle said deterrence had to be to the forefront of sentencing in what was the relatively new offence of cybercrime.

In a joint investigation by An Garda Síochána in Midleton, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and gardaí on secondment to the Department of Social Protection, the involvement of two men in these crimes was detected.

The accused

Oluwagbewikeke Lewis, 36, of Brookdale, Midleton, Co Cork, was sentenced to four years with the last year suspended.

Bashiru Aderibigbe, 45, of Ballincollig, Co Cork, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years with the final one year suspended, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court 

Sinéad Behan BL represented father of five Bashiru Aderibigbe, who brought another €6,000 to court, making his total compensation €12,000. Cash totalling almost €3,300 was also seized at his home.

Tom Power BL said Lewis had raised €5,000. He said the pleas of guilty by the accused had spared the State a trial that could have gone on for two months.

Accounts containing a further €32,000 were frozen, leaving an outstanding balance of just over €130,000, which has not been recovered.

Judge Boyle said: “This was not a two-man show. Other persons were involved in this conspiracy. Both of them operated at a low level in this criminal organisation.” 

In respect of Aderigigbe, the judge said, “You were granted asylum in this country in 2005. Covid occurred and you were in financial difficulty and you succumbed to temptation to become involved in this fraud.” 

Regarding Lewis, Judge Boyle said: “From his phone, Mr Lewis was seen to be in contact with someone known as The Chairman – the person known to be in charge of the criminal organisation behind this fraud.”