A Co Sligo publican has been jailed for two years and a Department of Agriculture official has been fined €30,000 for an elaborate scam to defraud the State of more than £100,000.
At Sligo Circuit Court yesterday, Judge Anthony Kennedy said the two men were motivated by greed.
The scam involved bogus applications under a Dairy Hygiene Scheme, with pay orders being sent to fictitious payees at a number of guesthouses in Co Sligo. It was only detected after two guesthouse owners became suspicious about mail arriving for "guests" who subsequently cancelled bookings but arranged for letters to be collected.
The Department official, Robert Patrick Walsh (42), of Tubbercurry, Co Sligo, pleaded guilty at a court hearing last October to conspiracy to steal £26,909 from State funds.
Michael Clarke (40), a publican and auctioneer from Beltra, Co Sligo, was found guilty in January of conspiring to steal with Walsh a pay order worth £26,909 and also of handling two other stolen Government pay orders.
A spokesman at the Department of Agriculture said last night that Walsh was taken off pay from yesterday and that a memorandum would be going to Government within the next two weeks in relation to his position.