Couple jailed for 18 months over €114,565 welfare fraud

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Dorina Turbat and Cristan Turbat were each jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to sample charges in a welfare fraud case involving more than 570 charges. The offending period ran from April 2017 to January 2019. Cristan worked for a construction company under his brother-in-law’s name while Dorina claimed job seeker’s allowance, working family payment and rent supplement she was not entitled to. The court heard that €114,565 was claimed through social welfare.

Judge Martin Nolan said the couple conspired to defraud the State over a long period. He set a three-year headline sentence, reduced to 18 months for each defendant after considering their guilty pleas, cooperation with the Garda investigation and expression of remorse.