Courts / Meath / Report

'I created this monster': scammer stole over €600k from family and friends to fund lifestyle

Summary

Stephen Keogh, a former Anglo Irish Bank employee, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years' imprisonment for stealing €611,139.35 from seven victims, mainly friends and family, between 2002 and 2010. He persuaded relatives and acquaintances to invest large sums in high‑interest accounts, but deposited the money into his own account and provided false documents to conceal the theft. Keogh also used his wife's credit card without her knowledge and took money from a brother‑in‑law and a best man to pay for cars that were never registered in their names. He fled to the United States in 2010, returned in 2011, and later worked for a company servicing U.S. military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was arrested in November 2019 and, after a guilty plea, was found to have created a fiction of success and lived beyond his means, leading the judge to sentence him for the extensive financial harm caused to his victims.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: 'I created this monster': scammer stole over €600k from family and friends to fund lifestyle. Charges or matters: stealing a total of €611,139.35 from seven victims at various locations in Co Dublin and Co Meath on dates between May 15, 2002 and April 27, 2010. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

• May 15, 2002 Other
• April 27, 2010 Other
• November 2019 Incident
• May 2002 Other
• May 2005 Other
• October 2005 Other
• January 2006 Other
• June 2009 Other
• April 2010 Other
• December 2009 Other
• February 2010 Other
• 2001 and 2005 Other
• 2020-05-14 Publication

Why: Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Keogh had "essentially created a fiction that he was far more successful than he in fact was" and stole the money because he was "living way beyond his means". Court evidence reported by CNI

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Sentence Theft

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Read the original CNI report