Forestry fraudster gets an extra two years in jail

A man convicted of defrauding 143 investors through a bogus forestry scheme has received an additional two years in prison following a Court of Appeal ruling. Garret Hevey, aged 43, operated Arden Forestry Management Limited under a false identity, directing approximately €5.5 million through a Dublin bank account between 2014 and 2016. The operation centred on repeatedly selling the same two forest parcels in Frenchpark, County Roscommon to overseas investors who were provided with forged documentation and false land registry numbers. The Court of Appeal determined that Hevey's original five-year sentence was unduly lenient and re-sentenced him to six years imprisonment with no portion suspended. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy stated the company functioned as "an engine of fraud," noting that whilst investors should have acquired 858 acres, only 30.2 acres were actually purchased. Hevey received over €500,000 personally, with substantial sums transferred abroad.