Courts / Dublin / Report
Bogus "UN diplomat" avoids jail
Summary
Agata Pracz, 39, of Swords, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to dishonestly inducing Yumi Takekoshi, a 58‑year‑old Tokyo woman, to hand over €8,990 on 15 July 2014 by promising access to a container of cash worth €6.8 million. Pracz, posing as a UN diplomat named Sandra Daly, met Takekoshi at Dublin Airport, took the money at a bar, and promised further details of the container. Takekoshi became suspicious, took a taxi to the Japanese embassy, and alerted Gardaí. Pracz was arrested on the M1 motorway after CCTV footage identified her car. Gardaí found just over €4,000 and a heavily encrypted laptop at her home. She had no prior convictions in Ireland but had three fraud convictions in Poland. Judge Patrick McCartan, after hearing the evidence, sentenced her to a suspended three‑year term, noting she had fully repaid the money and expressing reservations about her account of events.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Bogus "UN diplomat" avoids jail. Charges or matters: dishonestly inducing Yumi Takekoshi to hand over €8,990 on July 15, 2014 by promising her access to a container filled with cash. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- July 15, 2014 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2016-06-02 Publication
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: dishonestly inducing Yumi Takekoshi to hand over €8,990 on July 15, 2014 by promising her access to a container filled with cash (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Handing down the suspended sentence, Judge McCartan said he hoped he wouldn't meet Pracz again. "If she does drift back into her old practises in which she is well versed, well, I'll be waiting here for you and you won't get a second chance," he told her.
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