Courts / Wicklow / Report
Fake barrister scammed 1,200 people with bogus firms
Summary
David Williams, 68, and co-accused Crystal Talia, 46, pleaded guilty to multiple charges at the pretrial stage. Williams admitted to multiple sample counts of deception between January 2019 and June 2020, as well as defrauding a Galway woman in her 80s by dishonestly inducing her to buy a Kuboto U27 mini-digger for €7,841. Talia pleaded guilty to impeding an investigation by allowing Williams to use her bank accounts. The court heard allegations that Williams, who is not a qualified barrister, operated bogus legal firms to scam approximately 1,200 people. In the separate mini-digger case, Williams allegedly directed the victim to a vendor and provided his own bank account details, though Gardaí traced the machine to a third party and fully refunded the victim. Judge Orla Crowe refused a request for a probation report but granted time for Williams to gather character references. The matter was adjourned, with both defendants remanded on continuing bail for finalisation on December 13.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Fake barrister scammed 1,200 people with bogus firms. Charges or matters: multiple sample counts of deception on dates between January 2019 and June 2020; impeding an investigation by allowing Williams to use her bank accounts; defrauding a Galway woman in her 80s by dishonestly inducing her to buy a mini-digger for over €7,000; dishonestly inducing the woman to buy a Kuboto U27 mini-digger for the sum of €7,841, which included transport of the digger from the UK. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial
When:
- January 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
- June 2020 Incident
- November 2019 Incident
- May 2020 Incident
- July 2020 Incident
- December 13 Adjournment
- 2024-11-01 Publication
Why: One victim from South Africa, who was working in Ireland, transferred €1,600 to THL Legal in order to get his daughter naturalised. CNI source report
Case subjects
Co Accused
Charges: impeding an investigation by allowing Williams to use her bank accounts; defrauding a Galway woman in her 80s by dishonestly inducing her to buy a mini-digger for over €7,000; dishonestly inducing the woman to buy a Kuboto U27 mini-digger for the sum of €7,841, which included transport of the digger from the UK (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Judge Crowe remanded both Williams and Talia on continuing bail for finalisation on December 13.
Accused
Charges: multiple sample counts of deception on dates between January 2019 and June 2020; impeding an investigation by allowing Williams to use her bank accounts; defrauding a Galway woman in her 80s by dishonestly inducing her to buy a mini-digger for over €7,000; dishonestly inducing the woman to buy a Kuboto U27 mini-digger for the sum of €7,841, which included transport of the digger from the UK (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Judge Crowe remanded both Williams and Talia on continuing bail for finalisation on December 13.
Places mentioned
- Greenogue Business Park
- Blessington
- Blessington Credit Union
Topics
Fraud Stage Charge Or Pretrial
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