Clare man sentenced for fraud
A Clare resident who defrauded a company out of goods valued at nearly €5,000 while wearing a shirt saying “Trust Me” has been given a two year sentence with the balance suspended from today.
Ladislav Klier (39) of Dun na hInse, Ennis, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to stealing a diesel generator, a breaking machine and an extension lead with a total value of €4,800 from Active Tool Hire & Sales in Tallaght on June 1, 2008.
Judge Tony Hunt told Klier: “This was a case of intentional dishonesty causing a loss to the injured party.” He imposed a two year sentence, and taking into account a number of weeks Klier had spent in custody, suspended the balance of the term for three years.
He warned Klier if he came back before the court during that time he would serve the sentence.
Detective Garda David Jennings told Mr Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that Klier was wearing a white t-shirt with ‘Trust Me’ embossed on it when he called to the plant hire premises and asked to hire a diesel generator.
He paid €100 deposit for the machine, gave the false name of Malik Abdual and gave a Dublin address the court heard.
The following day Klier hired a Bosch 110 volt extension lead and a breaking machine from the same premises but never returned any of the equipment.
The plant hire shop owner showed gardai CCTV stills of Klier renting the machinery and a copy of the hire agreement which Klier signed under the name of Malik Abdual.
Gardai recognised the man as Klier from the stills and searched his house where they found the “Trust Me” T-shirt in his bedroom.
Klier was later arrested and admitted he took the items with “the intention of selling them on.”
Mr Kieran Kelly BL, defending, said Klier, a Czech national who has 38 previous convictions, was “motivated by financial hardship” and had admitted he hired the equipment and sold it on to pay his rent.
