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Former head of finance at Our Lady's Hospice jailed for Spanish property scam

Date
2022-11-25
Stage
Sentence
Primary locality
Dublin
County
Dublin

Summary

Denis Maguire, 65, former head of finance and company secretary at Our Lady's Hospice (OLH), pleaded guilty to deception for selling a Spanish property, Aloha Lake Village, Marbella West, at €37,500 in March 2015, far below its €240,000 market value. Maguire, who had no prior convictions, managed OLH's inherited properties and secured a resolution allowing him to dispose of the Spanish asset. He accepted a third‑party offer within 24 hours, without due diligence, and arranged the sale to Sun Orange Property LLC, a New York‑registered shell company. OLH suffered a loss of over €28,000 after liabilities were deducted. The scheme was uncovered following an HSE audit in September 2015. In November 2022, Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Maguire to 27 months' imprisonment, back‑dated to 17 October, citing the devious nature of the crime and the breach of trust he had owed to OLH.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Former head of finance at Our Lady's Hospice jailed for Spanish property scam. Charges or matters: one count of deception, dishonestly inducing Our Lady's Hospice (OLH) to sell a property at a loss on or around March 5, 2015. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

Why: Maguire created a narrative that the property was a liability and dilapidated in order to get another board member to sign this document. CNI source report

Case subjects

Denis Maguire

Defendant

Charges: one count of deception, dishonestly inducing Our Lady's Hospice (OLH) to sell a property at a loss on or around March 5, 2015 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Maguire was initially arrested on October 1, 2018, but nothing of value was obtained during this detention. He set a headline sentence of four to five years due to the amount of money involved and Maguire's position within OLH.

Our Lady's Hospice

Defendant

Charges: one count of deception, dishonestly inducing Our Lady's Hospice (OLH) to sell a property at a loss on or around March 5, 2015 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Our Lady's Hospice has been handed a prison sentence for his role in a "devious" scheme where a Spanish property left to the charity was sold at the "grossly undervalued" price of just €37,500.

Places mentioned

Residence
Court Venue
  • Dublin
  • Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
  • High Court
Secondary Mention
Facility
  • The house

Topics

Fraud Stage Sentence

Related court reports

Read the original CNI report

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