Man with address in Offaly imprisoned for falsely claiming Covid payments

A MAN with an address in Edenderry was sentenced to two years imprisonment for falsely claiming a number of Covid payments during last week's sitting of Tullamore District Court.

Before the court was Dumitru Beschea, 4F Clonmullen Hall, Edenderry and he was charged with committing the offences on six different occasions between June and November 2020.

Mr Beschea was charged with obtaining the Covid-19 Unemployment Payment for himself by making “a statement or representation which was to your knowledge false or misleading in a material respect namely that your full time employment had ended.”

The solicitor acting for the Minister for Social Protection told the Court that Mr Beschea was employed by a meat factory, which was visited by an inspector from the Department of Social Protection who discovered that he was working full-time there. She said the defendant obtained a number of Covid-19 payments worth €350 each.

The defending solicitor Brian Duffy told the court that his client is 53 years of age and is divorced. “He has no family in Ireland. He has been gainfully employed in Ireland since he moved here a number of years ago and he intends to repay what he owes the State.”

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Judge Andrew Cody commented that this was “a serious matter, during which Mr Beschea defrauded the State over an extended period of time while being in full-time employment. This type of fraud cannot be tolerated.” He convicted and sentenced as stated.

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