Jane Fay given suspended sentence for welfare fraud

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

Jane Fay received a three-year sentence, suspended in full, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for fraudulently claiming social welfare benefits in her late cousin’s name. Judge Melanie Greally imposed the sentence. The proceedings were reported on 2 February 2017.

Fay pleaded guilty to making a fraudulent claim. That charge concerned a claim at AIB, Main Street, Tallaght, on 22 April 2010. She had also entered guilty pleas in the district court to 38 similar charges before being sent forward. Those charges related to claims made between April 2010 and September 2014. The total loss was €34,781.

The court heard that all the money taken would be repaid. Fay and her family had already repaid more than €22,000, and the court ordered funds frozen in an account in her late cousin’s name released to the Department of Social Protection.

The report said Fay had been in financial difficulties when she took a job during the 1980s using her late cousin’s name so she would not lose her deserted wife benefit. She became unwell in 2010 and received illness benefit in that name, followed by job seekers benefit after redundancy. She stopped the fraudulent claims in September 2014.

The fraud came to light in 2015 when Fay, then aged 64, applied for a public services card in her own name and facial recognition matched her photograph to the claim under her cousin’s name.

Fay had no previous convictions. Judge Melanie Greally noted that her husband had deserted her, leaving her to raise five children, one of whom died tragically and another who had psychiatric problems. She also noted Fay’s serious health conditions and favourable testimonials, and said the behaviour appeared at odds with how she had generally conducted her life.