We’re far too soft on white-collar crime

Today we describe the case of self-confessed fraudster Breifne O’Brien who, over 15 years, cheated relatives, friends and friends of friends. He used his privileged position — an affluent family, raised in a castle, private schools followed by Trinity — to swindle millions from others in his haute bourgeois milieu.

He and his wife — they have separated — led a lavish lifestyle which included an Aston Martin, a villa in Barbados and regular visits to the world’s only seven-star hotel, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai.

After O’Brien admitted he could not repay investors — including a brother-in-law — his wife sought a court order to free some of his assets so she might get €4,000 a week for living expenses. She withdrew the application when the court refused to hear it in private. The trappings of this pathetic story are more or less as they would be in any greed-driven soap opera but what makes this one pertinent is not the behaviour O’Brien but the response of Ireland’s justice system.