33-year fraud uncovered only when President's bounty was offered to dead Cork pensioner

Donal O’Callaghan had been claiming the pensions of his dead mother and dead father. His father had also been claiming for his dead wife

The court heard that Donal O'Callaghan was also claiming a jobseekers payment making his weekly income around €700 in cash. Photo: Dan Linehan

It was not until the President’s bounty was offered to a 100-year-old Cork man that it was discovered he was dead for 33 years and his son had been claiming his pension.

“It is the largest and longest-running case of welfare fraud in the history of the state,” Detective Garda Mick Nagle said.