Posted by Stephen Matthews BL, for the Prosecution, read out a statement on behalf of Mr O’Brien.
The tycoon said: “For someone to tell you they had cancer when they do not is unconscionable.
FORMER hurling star DJ Carey borrowed nearly €400,000 from a number of friends, including businessman Denis O’Brien, after pretending he had cancer and needed the money for treatment in the States, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.
Mr O’Brien described him as “deceitful, manipulative and cunning” after he loaned him €125,182 and $13,000 for medical care and to pay off a €60,000 debt he had with AIB.
In a victim impact statement, he told the court: “The fact that DJ used cancer as a means to obtain money under a false pretence was gut wrenching personally for me as both my parents died of cancer.
“I was also a volunteer driver for the Irish Cancer Society and there he was obtaining money by lying that he needed finance to obtain life-saving cancer treatment.
“As I am regarded as a very generous individual DJ took advantage of this by his lies but as a qualified ACCA accountant who has worked with figures and finance all my working life, it made me look like a very stupid or a very naive individual.
“I have five children and never had spare money to give them growing up. As I had received a pension lump sum at the time I was in a position to give DJ the €16,360 he stated he required for the medical procedure .
“This could not have been nice for my children to observe who had never received a gift of substantial money from their father.”
Detective Sergeant Mick Bourke told prosecutor Dominic McGuin that Carey had met Denis O’Brien in 1997 when they were both on a golf trip to South Africa.
They had further contact when the former hurling star lived in Mount Juliet and Mr O’Brien had property there.
Det Sgt Bourk agreed with Mr McGinn when he said: “Their friendship continued, they played golf and socialised together.”
A number of other charges involving victims he had repaid were taken into consideration..
Thomas Brennan, who was involved in the development of an oncology drug, and went to the same school as Carey, transferred sums of €40,000 and €80,000 to Carey.
He later took a civil case against him for the repayment of the loans and the judgment awarded him €120,000 but he has never been repaid.
He didn’t plead in relation to this case but it was taken into consideration,
The case came to light in December 2022 when AIB were suspicious about some transactions and contacted the Gardai.
Carey was arrested at the Hoban Hotel in Kilkenny and his devices were seized.
Gardai contacted the Fred Hutch Cancer Centre in Seattle and were told he had never been a patient there and Carey admitted to them that he didn’t have the disease.
Mr Coady said that while his client never had cancer, he had a long-standing heart condition and such were his financial difficulties that he was effectively “a man of no fixed abode”.
Judge Nolan adjourned the case until Monday.
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