Suspended sentence for woman who carried out over €96,000 worth of social welfare fraud

A 41-year-old woman who carried out over €96,000 worth of social welfare fraud over a period of six years has been given a three-year suspended sentence.

Sergeant Michael Nagle told Judge Helen Boyle about the background to the crimes of deception committed by Dominique Mokoena of Clondulane, Fermoy, County Cork, who was represented by defence barrister Nikki O’Sullivan.

Ms O’Sullivan explained that while the defendant had used another name she was the one who approached An Garda Síochána when she tried to correct the record and presented to them with her real name and passport.

This gave rise to the investigation. Ms O’Sullivan said the accused would have been entitled to many of the payments through her family circumstances – she has four Irish-born children – but that the illegality arose out of the false name with which she presented to the Irish authorities.

The sample charges, to which Ms Mokoena pleaded guilty, consisted of theft by fraudulently securing payments for a one-parent family, rent supplement and child benefit.

Sgt Nagle said the accused came to Ireland 20 years under her true identity with a three-month South African tourist visa.

She then went to the UK before returning to Ireland in 2006 where she sought asylum under a false name, claiming to be from Zimbabwe.

When a passport was required as part of this application she obtained a false one which was accepted by the authorities. She applied for social welfare between 2013 and 2019 under this false identity.

She received exceptional needs payment, child benefit, basic supplementary allowance, rent supplement and back to school allowance.

In 2019 the passport was examined again when suspicions were raised at the social welfare office in Fermoy and it was found to be a high quality forgery.

All payment were stopped but she was able to apply for social welfare once her correct identity with South African passport was established as genuine.

The illegality of her obtaining payments for the six-year period arose out of the fact that her documentation was false at that time and she may have had no legal status in the country.