Posted by Updated / Wednesday, 30 Oct 2024 07:11
A 73-year-old woman, who falsely claimed her dead father-in-law’s pension for over 28 years, has paid an additional €40,000 in compensation.
Margaret Bergin, with an address at Fairfield House in Mountrath, Co Laois, has pleaded guilty to 15 charges in relation to the offence.
Bergin, who was due to be sentenced at Portlaoise Circuit Court, has had her sentencing put back until Friday.
She had previously pleaded guilty to ten sample counts of theft and five sample counts of larceny arising from fraudulently claiming John Bergin’s State pension.
The court heard that Bergin had been drawing down his pension for 28-and-a-half years after his death, to the value of €271,046.28.
The money was collected between 31 December 1993 and 25 February 2022.
In June, she paid €35,000 by way of compensation but Judge Keenan Johnson said the figure was not enough and he adjourned the case to allow for a proper restitution to be raised.
Today, defence counsel Damien Colgan told the court his client had provided an additional €40,000.
He told the judge “there just is no other monies available” and he said the best the defendant could do is pay €50 a week from her pension.
Prosecution counsel Will Fennelly said it meant there was still an outstanding loss to the State of €196,046.28.
A letter of apology was also read out in the court from Bergin, in which she said she wanted to “apologise sincerely” for what she done and say how sorry she was for committing the crime.
Bergin was the authorised agent to withdraw John Bergin’s pension, when he was still alive, and she had been his carer until his death.
In the letter, read out by Mr Colgan, she said she made the huge mistake of carrying on collecting her father-in-law’s pension after he died but she said she felt trapped.
She said was ashamed and embarrassed by her actions and she pleaded to the judge to “show me as much mercy as you can.”
The court was also told that Bergin is now in poor health and she has become socially isolated and estranged from one of her children and her brother because of her actions.
Mr Colgan said his client was “remorseful and apologetic” and he said Bergin had “let her family down” and regrets her actions.
He said while she is not in jail, she feels as though she is in her own mind, and he said she is now, in effect, confined to her house.
The family is shunned in the community and feels shame, he added.
A medical report and a probation report were also handed into the court this afternoon, ahead of her sentencing.
Mr Colgan said his client was frail and medically challenged and he appealed to Judge Johnson to be “as lenient as possible” and not impose a custodial sentence.
He said Bergin made a serious error of judgement and he said “when she got in, she couldn’t get out”.
Judge Johnson described the case as “absolutely extraordinary” and he said he found it hard to believe that nobody else in the house knew what was going on.
The court was told the family owns 99 acres of land and when the judge questioned why land was not being sold to help in making repayments, Mr Colgan said it is not possible to sell any of the land because it is located on a national strategic route.
But the judge said he had never heard of an inhibition on the sale of land of that order.
The pension fraud was first detected after an amateur gerontologist carried out research in 2022 in relation to a man in Mountrath who was 110 years of age.
At a previous hearing in June, the court heard the researcher was surprised he never heard of the man and his suspicion was aroused that it might be pension fraud and so he contacted Áras an Uachtaráin to enquire about records.
The Department of Social Protection was contacted and it was determined a visit should take place.
The court heard that when the Department of Social Protection Officials started enquiries, no death notice was found.
The court was also told Margaret Bergin had deliberately attempted to dissuade officials from visiting the house.
In April 2022, welfare officers went to Fairfield House to visit Joh Bergin and were left waiting and were told by Bergin that her father-in-law did not want to be disturbed.
The court heard that after a wait, the officials were introduced to a man in bed who had a pair of shoes on, who was much younger than Mr Bergin and bore no resemblance to him.
It also heard that after the visit one of the welfare officers visited a local graveyard and found the grave for Mr Bergin and his late wife.
The court heard that after her arrest Margaret Bergin admitted signing the documents, co-operated fully and said it had been her husband in the bed when officials visited her house.
The judge adjourned the sentencing until Friday at Portlaoise Circuit Court.
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