The Celtic Tiger's bogus underbelly continues its slow unravelling

Estate agent and would-be dealmaker Eamonn Kelly got six years for his €1.6 million Ponzi scheme in what must be the toughest sentence handed down to a fraudster in quite a while. Kelly took €1.6 million off punters claiming to be able to offer 15 per cent returns in six months in fast-tracked property deals. He forged a letter from lawyer to the stars Gerald Keane, to make it look as if the celebrity legal eagle was part of the set up. Read it here.
In another part of the forest David Drumm lost his legal bid to stop Anglo Irish challenging his US bankruptcy. They want to get him back to Ireland so allegations of fraud surrounding the zombie bank can be fully investigated. Read it here.

Anglo's ex-boss David Drumm makes the argument for coming home and facing the music

In fighting his old bank trying to stop him being declared in bankrupt in the United States (and thereby wiping out his debts) David Drumm made the perfect argument for coming home and facing the music. His lawyers argued in documents that they fear that the passage of time could affect witness statement and evidence in relation to allegations made against him by Anglo Irish, now known as the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. It's a pity he didn't feel the same about getting his side of the story down on record before relocating to the US. Read the Indo's story here.

Fakes, frauds and scams - business as usual in 2012

The scam artists from among the Rathkeale travellers won’t be looking back fondly at 2011. It was a year when Rathkeale made global headlines first thanks to the series of rhino horn thefts across Europe and then the eviction at Dale Farm. TV crews arrived in the County Limerick village to find out all about the Rathkealers and their way of doing business.
It was also the year that Irish law was exposed as being inadequate when it comes to dealing with white-collar crime. Fugitive solicitor Michael Lynn is reported now to be in Brazil while the investigations into Anglo Irish Bank slowly grind on. At the other end of the scale rogue builder Patrick Dunne is still in business despite a decade of rip-offs.
On the upside victims of Swank Franky de Dietrich learned that they may get some of their cash back after the Criminal Assets Bureau held onto the proceeds of frozen bank accounts.
Two of Ireland’s prolific lifestyle fraudsters Frankie Shanley and Terry Kirby are in jail, while the government are closing in on more and more people who indulge in welfare fraud.
The 419 emails still keep coming while the cold-callers from the boiler room scams haven’t let up. As 2012 gets going remember that as far as the scam artists are concerned it’s business as usual.

Breifne O'Brien- Ireland's Celtic Tiger parable

Breifne O'Brien, in his own way, is the ultimate parable of the Celtic Tiger. Flash, confident, plenty of style but just short any real substance to back it all up. The businessman and investor was Ireland's Bernie Madoff style con-artist, albeit on a very much smaller scale. The fact that he used the money of his friends and social circles made things all the worse. Last week Maeve Sheehan wrote a great piece in the Sunday Indo about him, read it here.

A little Christmas cheer for the victims of Swanky Franky's ponzi scheme

There was some good news in the High Court yesterday for investors who fell for Francois de Dietrich's dodgy investment scheme. The judge ordered that €4.65 million frozen in 11 bank accounts could be seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The liquidator of Swanky Franky's company Etic Solutions, can now look at paying back some of the cash to 400 or so investors. Read more here.

If you want a botch-job done then Patrick Dunne's your man

Fawlty Towers had Reilly The Builder - the crazy botch-job builder who had an excuse for everything. Patrick Dunne from Curryhills, Prosperous, County Kildare is the real-life version. For years Dunne has been operating under various trade names, drumming up business through flyers and at a home improvement exhibitions. He is the last person you want going anywhere near your home. Dozens of property owners have fallen victim to his slick spiel, handing over cash deposits for work that is well below par and quite often left unfinished. While the property crash in Ireland has wiped out three-quarters of the building trade, Dunne somehow manages to survive. Read the full story here.

Michael Lynn joins the Boys from Brazil and heads for South America

Fugitive solicitor Michael Lynn has kept the gardai waiting when it comes to explaining about the €80 million in mortgages he borrowed. Ali Bracken in The Daily Mail this morning has a story on how he has finally legged it to Brazil which doesn't have an extradition treaty with Ireland. The story quotes sources saying he still has ideas about making up the lost cash by investing in properties deal in Brazil. Looks like the singing solicitor is somewhat removed from reality as well as the long arm of the law.