Tallaght man to be sentenced for defrauding unemployed
A sports co-ordinator who defrauded over €6,000 from unemployed people that took his course and from South Dublin County Council has been remanded on bail pending sentence.
Michael Browne (aged 37) of Kiltipper Gate, Tallaght, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Courts to a number of counts of deception, which were representative of a total of 22 charges, on dates between August 25, 2009 and January 2010 at Tallaght Leisure Centre and South Dublin County Council.
He has no previous convictions and is known in his local area for his involvement in the leisure and training area.
Judge Patricia Ryan adjourned the case to next February pending the preparation of a probation report.
Garda Ciaran Loughrey told Ms Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that Browne was the co-ordinator of two sports programmes in Tallaght Leisure Centre. He said the students on the course were mainly unemployed people and it was funded by both South Dublin County Council and Fás.
He said that in March 2010 a cheque for €1,458 was made payable to a man in payment for the preparation of a safety statement after Browne provided the council with an invoice in relation to the work.
Gda Loughrey said the cheque was signed by Browne and another man but cashed by Browne.
The work had never been carried out and Browne later admitted to gardaí that he had done up the invoice himself.
Browne was then fired for this and other “incidences of gross misconduct” Gda Loughrey told the court.
He said a number of students from Browne’s courses later reported that he had charged them fees for a course that had actually been paid by Fás.
He said that 21 students came forward and said that Browne had put them under pressure to pay the fees and when they asked for receipts they were told there were none.
The fees related to a course that had been provided by a woman sourced from the UK and she had already invoiced Fás and received full payment.
Gda Loughrey said the students handed over a total of €4,610.
He said Browne met with gardaí voluntarily in Tallaght Garda Station on August 11, 2010 where he made full admissions in relation to the bogus invoice and the students’ fees.
He told Ms McGowan that Browne had been working for the council for a number of years and had also been the director of a security company.
Gda Loughrey agreed with Mr Lorcan Staines BL, defending, that Browne had been respected in the local community prior to this offence and had not come to garda attention since.
Mr Staines handed in a number of references that had been prepared on behalf of his client, including some from previous students of Browne’s.
He said the court was entitled to take “an extremely dim view of what happened considering the type of people the money had been taken from”.
Mr Staines said his client’s father was willing to use the €10,000 bail bond to fully re-pay those affected and asked Judge Ryan to take into account Browne’s co-operation with gardaí and admissions.
He said the case has brought significant shame and embarrassment to Browne, particularly when it was reported on in the local papers.
