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Jail for scammer who fraudulently claimed pandemic payment
Summary
Arthur Batistis, 51, of Skerries, was sentenced to ten months' imprisonment by the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for theft and deception. He stole €17,000 in pandemic unemployment payments and €10,000 in jobseeker's allowance between January 2021 and February 2022, despite not being entitled to either. Batistis also fraudulently obtained an American customer's card details over the phone to buy flowers, then processed unauthorised payments as legitimate sales and pocketed the cash. The theft was discovered when the victim reported the card charges, leading Gardaí to uncover his welfare fraud. Arrested in October 2022, Batistis admitted the offences and cooperated with the investigation. He had no prior convictions and a good work history, but the judge described the theft as reprehensible and imposed the prison term. Arthur Batistis pleaded guilty.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Jail for scammer who fraudulently claimed pandemic payment. Charges or matters: theft and dishonestly by deception inducing the Department of Social Protection to pay both jobseeker's allowance and the pandemic unemployment payment on dates between January and May 2022. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- May 2022 Hearing Or Sentence
- November 2021 Hearing Or Sentence
- February 2022 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 2022 Incident
- 2024-02-13 Publication
Why: Garda Paul Kelly told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that an American customer had previously given her card details to Batistis over the phone in order to purchase flowers but Batistis retained the card information. CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: theft and dishonestly by deception inducing the Department of Social Protection to pay both jobseeker's allowance and the pandemic unemployment payment on dates between January and May 2022 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Places mentioned
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