A ‘chaotic’ deception: Kerry court orders reformed gambler to repay €22,000 swindled from friend
The KerrymanYears after a ‘chaotic’ deception, a judge ordered a reformed gambler to repay the entirety of €22,000 that he swindled from an acquaintance, the Tralee Circuit Court heard on Thursday.
John Jogy (42) of 23 Heath Inse Bay, Laytown, Co Meath, faced 22 charges of deception. The court heard he conned his friend over the course of a year between 2017 and 2018.
Judge Ronan Munro also showed leniency in his sentencing, noting the defendant had an “overambitious estimation of his own abilities” but appeared to have transformed his life.
“The defence hasn’t changed but he seems to have changed,” said the judge.
The deception began when Mr Imran Khan (38), a Tralee resident, received a phone call from a man with an English accent claiming he represented an electrical goods company based in the UK, Barrister Thomas Rice told the court.
It was said he offered Mr Khan the opportunity to invest in the fictitious company.
Not having a bank account of his own, Mr Jogy had funds transferred to the account of his wife and her friends’ accounts, the court heard.
During this time, it was said he periodically offered Mr Khan money he claimed was a return on investment. Mr Khan declined to accept it, believing by doing so he was re-investing it.
By 2019, with no profit to show for his investments, Mr Khan went to gardaí.
“The penny finally dropped with the unfortunate victim,” said Mr Rice.
Most of the money was gambled, Mr Rice told the court.
Mr Thomas told the court that Mr Jogy’s wife was the family breadwinner while Mr Jogy stayed at home and “gave the appearance of being successful”.
The court heard Mr Jogy, who has lived in Ireland since 2005, had subsequently collected €15,000 to repay Mr Khan. He had no previous convictions.
Council for the defence Katie O’Connell noted her client’s early plea and told the court he had undergone “a very stressful time at home in this period”.
He and the injured party were friends at the time, said the barrister.
“They would have been in the same group of pals,” she said.
She observed gambling was “a large part of the background in this case” and said Mr Jogy underwent counselling to address this.
It was further noted that he had tried to invest some of the stolen funds in software, hoping he would come into more money and could repay Mr Khan.
“He kept trying to buy himself more time,” said the barrister.
The court heard Mr Jogy was the sole driver for the family and drives his wife to work. It was also noted that he had worked for the last two years as a software trainee for a project that was soon to begin.
She told the court his employer attended court with him and his marriage was “back on track”.
There was no victim impact statement.
In sentencing, the judge highlighted the extended duration of crimes was “a significant deception”.
But he also observed that Mr Jogy admitted to the crime in 2019 and it took five more years for court proceedings to begin.
Mr Jogy’s life appeared to have changed, he said.
“I do have concerns about the prospect of custody for someone who has, in effect, rehabilitated himself,” said the judge.
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Furthermore, he highlighted the scam was not systematic but a “chaotic situation” and a “hare-brained scheme” whereby Mr Jogy genuinely believed he would repay the stolen funds.
A jail sentence would “bring him back in time”, said the judge.
He ordered a two-year suspended sentence, with a €300 bond for five years.
The sentence was imposed on his two most recent charges, taking 20 others into consideration.
He also ordered Mr Jogy repay Mr Imran the €15,000 he had collected immediately and provide an additional €7,000 within 15 months.
The judge noted it was upon Mr Jogy, not his wife, to earn this.
Finally, he ordered that Mr Jogy “not to offer investment services involving stock choice to any person”.