A bank official who stole more than €10,000 from client accounts was exposed when two customers complained about unauthorised withdrawals, a court heard yesterday.
Conor Francis Higgins (27), Loughlinstown, Dublin, admitted stealing the money from the Irish Permanent, now part of Permanent TSB bank, between July and November 2001.
Dublin District Court heard he was a customer adviser and had access to cash while he worked in the company's Kilmacud and Rathmines branches.
He took sums of between €505 and €3,550 from the cash tills on five separate occasions. The company carried out an investigation and found the unauthorised transactions from two accounts.
When confronted, Higgins admitted these fraudulent transactions and confessed to the other three.
He repaid all the money straight away, was dismissed and moved to Spain. At that stage, gardaí were called in and he returned to face the charges.
He had taken the money because he had "got involved with people who were doing better than himself", his lawyer said. He had informed his employer in Spain, a tele-sales company, of the case and had taken a leave of absence.
Judge Sean McBride said as Higgins had repaid all the money, had no previous convictions and had co-operated fully, he was prepared to deal with it by finding the facts proved and dismissing the charges under the Probation Act, providing he paid €1,500 to the Father Peter McVerry charity for homeless boys.