Woman who fraudulently withdrew money from credit union given suspended sentence
A Balbriggan resident who attempted to fraudulently withdraw €7,000 from a Swords Credit Union account after a suspicious lodgment was made has been given a suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Olubuckolo Kilani (aged 41) of Hamlet Avenue, pleaded guilty to attempting make a gain or cause a loss by deception at the Credit Union on July 16, 2007. The Nigerian mother-of-two has no previous convictions.
Judge Martin Nolan said the details of the account were "murky" and he accepted that Kilani was making the withdrawal after being persuaded by "interested parties". He imposed a two-year suspended sentence.
Garda Alan Carroll told Mr Paul Greene BL, prosecuting, that the Swords Credit Union had placed an account under review after a suspicious lodgment had been made using a cheque altered from €3,500 to €35,000. They made attempts to contact the account holder but were unsuccessful.
He said staff members alerted gardaí on July 16 when Kilani attempted to withdraw money from the account using a withdrawal slip and documentation bearing the name of the account holder.
Gda Carroll agreed with defence counsel, Mr Michael Lynn BL, that Kilani told gardaí she had been persuaded by the account holder to make the withdrawal on their behalf.
He agreed that she expressed remorse for the offence and had not come to any further Garda attention.
Mr Lynn said Kilani was not a person who was likely to re-offend and was genuinely remorseful.
