Alleged welfare fraudster Samantha Cookes further remanded in custody

Former Tralee resident, aged 36, is accused of stealing almost €60,000 from the Department of Social Protection in fraudulent disability claims 

Samantha Cookes, pictured at Tralee District Court in July. Picture: Domnick Walsh/Eye Focus 

A woman aged 36, who is accused of stealing almost €60,000 from the Department of Social Protection in fraudulent disability claims, has been further remanded in custody.

Samantha Cookes, of no fixed abode, appeared via video link from Limerick Prison at a sitting of Tralee District Court on Thursday.

Asked to confirm her name, she replied “Samantha J” Cookes. Directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions are awaited, and Sergeant Stephen O’Brien told Judge Marie Keane the State was applying for a further two weeks in custody

Ms Cookes was arrested outside Tralee post office in early July when she was due to collect a weekly disability allowance worth €232, a special sitting of the court heard previously.

She is charged that on July 12, 2024, at An Post, Edward St, Tralee, she did steal property, namely €232 in disability allowance payment, issued on June 12 to Samantha Jade Cookes, and that on the same date she stole the same sum issued on June 5 to the same name.

These were sample charges, with further charges likely. In all she is accused of defrauding the department of €59,094 in fraudulent claims of 238 separate payments over a four-year period, the court has heard.

She initially submitted a claim for supplementary welfare allowance in February 2020 on the basis she had Huntington's disease.

Disability allowance

In September 2021, Ms Cookes submitted a disability allowance claim which was signed by a doctor.

After obtaining her medical records under Section 52, gardaí discovered the accused had told her doctor she was adopted and therefore could not prove she was previously diagnosed with Huntington’s and so the doctor signed her application in good faith.

Ms Cookes claims that she was "following doctors' orders" and was medically led to believe she has the disease.

During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that she posed as a safety consultant under the names Jane Harris and Samantha Jade Williams, providing a company name that is a variation of a current trading company, the court was told previously.

That court also heard from investigating gardaí that Ms Cookes had a history of using multiple aliases, variations of her own name and her mother's, to hide her identity. Her motives were not clear as she did not always financially benefit from them, gardaí said.

For the past 18 months, she has been living at an address in Tralee under the name Jade O’Sullivan but was no longer welcome at that address, the court has heard.

Other aliases include Carrie Jade Williams, Jade O’Sullivan, Lucy Fitzwilliams, Jade Harris, and Sadie Harris.

The court also heard that Ms Cookes still believes she has Huntington's disease and has been suffering from neurological symptoms since 2019.

Ms Cookes has been granted legal aid.

Judge Keane granted the State application for further remand and the 36-year-old will be back before the court via video link on August 29.