Three men who conspired with an employee of Friends Provident Insurance Company to defraud it of over £100,000 have been given suspended sentences by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The three had tried to cash a life assurance policy held by a Friends Provident customer. One of the men had already stolen over £1,700 from the customer's account with the help of the employee.
James Grogan (50), Damien Dunne (24), both of Carnlough Road, Dublin, and George Turner (30), Liscannor Road, Dublin, pleaded guilty to attempting to defraud Friends Provident in November 1998. Dunne also pleaded guilty to handling a stolen cheque worth £1,723 between December 8th, 1997 and January 8th, 1997.
Judge Frank O'Donnell heard that the Friends Provident employee, who has been charged in connection with the fraud, has yet to come before the courts.
Judge O'Donnell told Grogan he was "silly and foolish" to get involved in crime so late in life. He said he always took a very serious view of people who tried to undermine financial institutions, which were the hallmark of a stable society. He imposed a two-year suspended sentence on Grogan, and a three-year suspended sentence on Turner and Dunne.