Seven years for £3.8m fraud plot

A seven-year sentence was imposed on the man behind what was described at Ennis Circuit Court yesterday as "a very clever and ingenious conspiracy" to defraud the Revenue Commissioners of £3.8 million.

Last September Mr Brendan Murphy (47) of Fielbrook, Parteen, Co Clare, pleaded guilty to the charge that he conspired with Mr Brendan O'Doherty and other persons not before the court to defraud the Revenue Commissioners of £3,823,716 between January 1st and June 18th, 1997.

Imposing sentence at Ennis Circuit Court yesterday, Judge Kevin Haugh said he was satisfied that Mr Murphy, a former principal tax officer with the Revenue Commissioners, had misused his power and perpetrated a gross breach of privilege as a trusted employee in a very substantial fraud.

He said that the "very clever and ingenious" conspiracy could only have been carried out with deep inside knowledge of how the Revenue Commissioners operated, adding that he was satisfied all the information in relation to the forged documents must have come from Mr Murphy.

Judge Haugh ruled that the final three years of the sentence be suspended on condition that Mr Murphy enter a bond to keep the peace and that the sentence commence from December 16th last when Mr Murphy was first remanded in custody.

Judge Haugh said he was not convinced that there was any duress brought on the accused in the case, and it seemed to him that Mr Murphy was the originator of the conspiracy, rather than a person who had been sucked in.

He said: "I am satisfied that even if he was not the originator of the scheme, he took to his role with enthusiasm and dedication. I am also satisfied that the forgery which was generated to get money from the Revenue could only have come from him and from the knowledge gained in his work. He gave calculated and enthusiastic assistance to this plot."

Judge Haugh said Mr Murphy, a father of five, now represented "a sad and sorry figure, who had fallen from a great height".