Fraudster Catriona Carey could lose family home after failing to pay mortgage for nearly 10 years

10th August 2022

Convicted fraudster Catriona Carey faces losing her family home after failing to make any repayments on her mortgage in nearly 10 years.

An order for possession of her house in Weir View Hill, Co Kilkenny, has been granted to Start Mortgages Designated Activity Company, which is seeking to recover arrears of more than €359,000.

Carey, who has been embroiled in controversy over an alleged mortgage scam where she took hundreds of thousands of euro from people in financial difficulty after promising to help them secure new deals to keep their properties, has not made her own monthly mortgage repayments since November 2012, according to court documents.

An order for possession of the house was granted on May 11, together with a stay of execution of three months.

Once that period has ended, Start Mortgages is entitled to take possession of the property.

Despite the possession order, it is understood that the former Ireland hockey player will still have the option of temporarily remaining in her home if she agrees to a private sale of the house.

She insisted she is happy to be under garda investigation after receiving thousands of euro from people across the country through a mortgage scheme that offered to buy debt from their lenders at a discount

She insisted she is happy to be under garda investigation after receiving thousands of euro from people across the country through a mortgage scheme that offered to buy debt from their lenders at a discount

Otherwise the county sheriff will be instructed to take possession of the home if she does not vacate it later this month

The balance outstanding on the property is €876,000 including the €359,000 in arrears. She has also incurred significant arrears on another property she owns in Co Laois, while a house close to her family home which she previously owned was recently sold by private auction for €365,000 after receivers were appointed to it.

Those who paid her thousands of euro for mortgage deals that never materialised now have little hope of recovering any money they are owed after details of the former Kilkenny camogie player’s debts were revealed.

Carey also recently admitted to the Sunday World that €400,000 in client funds received by her company Careysfort Asset Estates Limited has been spent and is not recoverable.

She insisted she is happy to be under garda investigation after receiving thousands of euro from people across the country through a mortgage scheme that offered to buy debt from their lenders at a discount.

RTÉ Investigates exposed how the deals never happened and the deposits were not returned, with the money instead being spent on lavish trips abroad and a €55,000 BMW, which has since been taken by gardaí, along with her passport and documentation from her home.

In February 2020, she was convicted of fraud after forging a cheque that had been given to her by a hairdresser who hired her as his accountant

In February 2020, she was convicted of fraud after forging a cheque that had been given to her by a hairdresser who hired her as his accountant

She is also being sued by Bank of Ireland (BoI) over debts relating to a property which has since been sold.

In applying for a debt summary judgment, the bank seeks an immediate court ruling against a borrower without a trial, gaining recourse to any assets they hold.

In February 2020, she was convicted of fraud after forging a cheque that had been given to her by a hairdresser who hired her as his accountant.

It had been made out to the Collector General, but she instead made it payable to her, and cashed it at a Bank of Ireland branch in Kilkenny city.

She was also banned from driving for four years in May and received a suspended sentence after she pleaded guilty to road traffic offences, including driving without a licence or insurance.

Gardaí told Kilkenny District Court that Carey was “roaring and screaming” and asked “Do you expect me to get taxis?” when stopped for separate road offences on the Castlecomer Road last year. She pleaded guilty to four road traffic offences which occurred less than a month apart.

Garda Julie Chapman gave evidence that she stopped the defendant travelling along the Castlecomer Road.

The garda said Carey was driving at 70kph in a 50kph zone and that, when stopped, only had a picture of her licence on her phone.

It was discovered that she was disqualified from driving and when informed of this, Carey “disagreed” and started “roaring and screaming”.

She is appealing the ban and therefore can continue to drive until the case is heard in the Circuit Court.