Business lobbyist pleads guilty to €20,500 theft

Former lobbyist Sven Spollen-Behrens has pleaded guilty to stealing more than €20,000 from two local business groups where he was chief executive.

Spollen-Behrens recently left his post as director of the Small Firms’ Association, part of employers’ group, Ibec.

He pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday to one count of stealing €10,250 from Dún Laoghaire Business Improvement District in June 2017.

Spollen-Behrens (54), of Killiney Hill Road, Killiney, Co Dublin, also pleaded guilty to a second count of stealing €10,250 from Sandyford Business Improvement District in August 2017.

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He was chief executive of both business improvement districts (BIDs), working first in Dún Laoghaire and subsequently in Sandyford, from where he joined the Small Firms’ Association.

Businesses found and fund BIDs through a yearly levy to work on improving and promoting their area. The voluntary system is based on a scheme set out in local government legislation.

The court struck out the remaining charges against Spollen-Behrens. He was scheduled to face trial on Monday, but his lawyers told Judge Patricia Ryan that he intended to plead guilty to two charges.

Judge Ryan adjourned the case for sentence on January 16th next.

He joined the Small Firms’ Association as director in September 2017. When contacted at the weekend, Ibec confirmed that the organisation was aware of the court case involving its former employee.

The employers’ group confirmed the case was not related to his time at Ibec and that Spollen-Behrens was no longer employed there.

Originally from Germany, Spollen-Behrens also led trade associations in Brussels and Berlin. He ran an eye-care business, Opticks, in Dublin city centre for a period after moving to the Republic.

He has a degree in economics from the University of Bonn in Germany and a post-graduate qualification in political economy from the University of Warwick in Britain.