Cork man jailed for withdrawing €136k out of his dead brother's bank accounts

Thirty withdrawals were made from bank accounts of a man who died in December 2018 in the months following his death until almost all of the money was gone and today the dead man’s brother was jailed for 18 months for the crime.

Detective Garda Andrew O’Connell said Kevin Connolly of Ballincurrig Court, South Douglas Road, Cork, made unauthorised withdrawals of cash from two bank accounts of his brother following Joseph Connolly’s death.

The total amount of money withdrawn was €136,398 which effectively was all of the money available in the two accounts.

Det. Garda O’Connell said Kevin Connolly presented false identification at the AIB and PTSB banks being his late brother’s ID in order to make the withdrawals.

In the course of eleven transactions he withdrew €34,000 from the AIB and he withdrew more than €102,000 in 19 transactions involving PTSB. He pleaded guilty to five counts of forgery arising out of the investigation.

The money was used for lifestyle spending, including holidays and for sharing with others, the detective said, adding that none of the cash was recovered.

Seamus Roche defence senior counsel said admissions were made at an early stage by the 52-year-old and that he had experienced a lot of difficulties over the years. 

However, he said that he was gentlemanly in all of his dealings with gardaí. The detective said the deceased was a single man with no dependents but that he was also survived by his mother and other siblings.

Judge Helen Boyle said that she did not think that specific deterrence was needed in terms of the accused ever coming before the courts again. However, she said that she had to be cognisant of the need for a general deterrent effect of any sentence in this case.

For that reason, she said that a fully suspended sentence could not be given. She imposed a two-year sentence with the last six months suspended at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.