A MAN whose scam left some foreign nationals living on the streets has been given an 18-month suspended sentence by Judge Patricia Ryan.
Polish national Leszek Mikulski (27), with an address at Jamestown Park, Ratoath, Co Meath, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 14 charges of theft on dates between February and March 2007.
The case had been adjourned on a number of occasions to allow Mikulski to gather compensation to reimburse his victims a total of €28,100 he stole from them by taking rent money for apartments leased at Usher’s Quay and Wellington Quay.
Defence counsel Michael Bowman, who had described Mikulski’s behaviour as “ill-informed, ill-advised and ultimately illegal”, told Judge Ryan his client had gathered the full compensation. She said the court accepted this and the “genuine apology to his victims”.
Det Garda Desmond Rogers said a foreign national called to Pearse Street Garda station on March 20th last year and said he had signed a lease agreement for an apartment on Wellington Quay and handed over a deposit as well as a month’s rent in advance. He was given keys for the apartment and told to return a few days later but when he arrived he couldn’t gain access to it.
Gardaí went to the apartment with the two men and Mikulski answered the door. He was arrested for theft after he admitted he was in the process of falsely letting the apartment. He said it was his intention to see how many people would be interested, lease it to one and then try and find other similar apartments for the unsuccessful tenants.
Nine other people came to the station on the same day complaining that they too had handed over a deposit and a month’s advance rent.