Two questioned in will fraud investigation
A man and a woman are being questioned by gardaí tonight over the alleged forging of a will involving farmland worth tens of millions of euro.
A well-known bachelor farmer who lived his entire life in a rural part of Co Wexford died in the mid-1990s.
His 170 acre lands, farmhouse and livestock were awarded to a distant relative from the area after he produced a will signed by the farmer.
But more than 10 years later, after a number of sites on the farm have been sold for more than €1m, a complaint has been made claiming the document was a forgery.
It is understood gardaí are probing allegations the will was drawn up three weeks after the farmer died and backdated to before his death leaving the entire estate to one relative.
Two executors of the will are also understood to be the men who signed it as witnesses.
Relatives of the farmer who were living in America at the time of his death travelled back to Ireland for the funeral but it is believed they were unable to contest the will.
A 54-year-old man was arrested early today and a woman was later taken in for questioning.
The arrests came after a 44-year-old man, also from the Wexford area, was taken in for questioning on Thursday. He was later released without charge and a file was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
It is understood gardaí have also spoken to a third man over the forgery allegation.
The three people were all arrested under section four of the Criminal Justice Act, which includes charges such as forgery which result in a penalty of five years or more.
“This alleged offence happened around 10 years ago. However a complaint must have been made recently for this investigation to begin,” a garda spokesman said.
It is understood gardaí began investigating six months ago after rumours circulated in the area about the alleged forgery.
The huge farm is a few miles outside Fethard-on-Sea in Co Wexford, and while valuable as it stands, it could be worth tens of millions of euro more if opened up to development.
