Adrianus Johannes Kees jailed for €840,000 fraud

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Adrianus Johannes Kees was jailed for three and a half years for fraud at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, reported on 3 December 2024. The fraud targeted Mayo-based biotechnology company Ovagen.

Kees pleaded guilty to the fraud charge on the fifth day of his trial, after initially pleading not guilty to fraud and theft. The court heard that he sought €840,000 from Ovagen for an escrow account that did not exist; the money was spent within two weeks.

Judge Elva Duffy set a four-and-a-half-year headline sentence, reduced it by a year and backdated the sentence to July for time spent in custody. She ordered that €50,000 bail be paid to the victims and made no compensation order.