A Westmeath auctioneer and valuer who was "one of the main players" in an elaborate insurance fraud was jailed for 30 months by Judge Yvonne Murphy at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Peter Leahy (37), of Old Longford Road, Mullingar, got more than €82,415 from the scam and was "very close to the main instigator", former garage-owner Michael Byrne, who is serving a five-year jail term, Judge Murphy was told.
Det Garda Liam O'Connor said Leahy had lied continu-
ously when interviewed by gardaí who investigated 90 incidents in which the main method used to defraud insurance companies was showing damaged vehicles with false number plates to assessors.
Leahy pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud and false pretences, with two more taken into consider-
ation, arising out of incidents in 1995 and 1996 in which more than £92,000 (€116,800) was defrauded from Guardian PMPA and Cornhill Insurance.
Det Garda O'Connor said that in one case claims totalling £17,830 (€22,640) were processed for Leahy through Longford solicitor Thomas Madden in the names of two people without their knowledge.
Judge Murphy said she had jailed Byrne who, after being convicted by a jury in one case, then pleaded guilty to several other charges and brought €50,000 compensation to court.
The Court of Criminal Appeal raised Byrne's sentence to five years from the three she had imposed.