Letterkenny woman charged with fraud after falsely claiming benefits

A 61-year-old woman continued to claim social welfare despite being in possession of nearly half a million euro.

Margaret Friel was left the substantial sum of money after the death of her husband. She had been working part-time over the course of five years while in possession of the money, but at the same time was claiming benefits from the state. A member of the Special Investigations Unit of the Department of Social Protection said nearly €17,000 had been overpaid to Ms Friel but according to the Irish Times, the Minister for Social Protection referred to about half of this initial figure as being the actual amount overpaid. Ms Friel was the only named person on the account to which money was lodged and had made numerous withdrawals. Upon being investigated by gardaí, Ms Friel explained that the money was merely “resting in her account.” Hmm... that sounds awfully familiar. The solicitor representing Ms Friel, Frank Dorrian described how the money has since been divided among Friel’s two adult sons, which was the initial arrangement in place, and that it was regrettable that his client did not seek advice on the matter sooner. Garda Harvey Maughan of the Special Investigations Unit stated that Ms Friel should have disclosed the amount of money that was in her account. The court said the Probation Act would be applied in this case, which allows a summary charge to be dismissed even if the charge is proved as the courts consider “the character, antecedents, age, health, or mental condition of the person charged, or to the trivial nature of the offence, or to the extenuating circumstances under which the offence was committed…”.