Courts / Dublin / Report

Albanian refugee falsely claimed over €51k in social welfare payments

Summary

Father‑of‑three Besnik Vucaj, aged 49, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment after pleading guilty to five counts of deception for fraudulently claiming over €51,000 in rent supplements and carer's allowances from the Department of Social Protection between June 2012 and March 2016. He had purchased two Italian identity cards from a former resident of his past address to present himself as an Italian worker at a Dublin construction firm. Vucaj admitted to using these false identities to obtain benefits while working in Terenure, Dublin. The court noted his lack of prior convictions, his cooperation with investigators, and his efforts to repay the debt, and therefore suspended two years of a two‑and‑a‑half‑year sentence. He is now paying €100 per week toward the €49,000 still owed to the department. The case was heard in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, with Judge Pauline Codd presiding.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Albanian refugee falsely claimed over €51k in social welfare payments. Charges or matters: five charges of deception by inducing the Department of Social Protection to pay rent supplement at Harold's Cross Post Office, Dublin, on dates between June 2012 and March 2016; three similar charges of inducing the Department to pay carer's allowance at Bank Of Ireland in Terenure from January 2014 to March 2016. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

• June 2012 Hearing Or Sentence
• March 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
• January 2014 Other
• May 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2018-05-14 Publication

Why: Gda Burke also accepted that Vucaj was willing to repay the State €100 a week and that he could not get a loan with his local credit union because he had not built up enough history with it. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Fraud Stage Sentence

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Read the original CNI report