DUBLIN, Ireland-The former credit controller who stole almost €1.7m from Finglas Credit Union over a seven-year period by creating bogus loans and stealing checks has been found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison.
According to authorities, Paul O'Brien, 51, took out additional fraudulent loans in order to make repayments on the pre-existing ones. The money was used to fund what he called a “severe gambling addiction,” and on three occasions to pay either his mortgage or credit card bills.
In all, €1,669,696 was stolen via 215 fraudulent loans and 13 stolen checks. However, because he used some of the cash to make repayments on the loans, the total net loss to the credit union was €453,300.
O'Brien pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to charges that included nine counts of stealing various amounts of cash from Finglas Credit Union and one charge of falsifying a loan application in the amount of €17,000 between February 26, 2005 and May 12, 2012.
The married father-of-three had no previous convictions, and a number of documents were handed in to court to confirm he had signficant gambling problem at the time.
His lawyers had argued that his addiction was so serious that he could not help himself from stealing the money.
O'Brien has been out of work since his crimes came to light.
Judge Martin Nolan said O'Brien was a good member of society who is unlikely to re-offend. He said that while he has no other criminal record, the extent of his offending meant he must be jailed.
The crimes were discovered by staff during an audit in May of 2012.