Motor trader given suspended sentence over false car theft claim

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

Donatas Sadauskas was given a suspended sentence after falsely claiming a Mercedes-Benz had been stolen to make an insurance claim. The sentencing proceedings were reported on 12 March 2026.

Sadauskas pleaded guilty to making a false report and statement to gardaí at Dún Laoghaire station on 17 December 2016, tending to show that an offence had been committed.

RTÉ reported that Sadauskas had watched the Mercedes parked on Victoria Road in Dalkey, Co Dublin. After its owner sold it to a UK company in December 2016, Sadauskas reported it stolen and said it was his. He lodged a €19,500 claim with AXA insurance.

He left the country after gardaí began investigating. He was arrested at an airport in Belgium in February 2024 and extradited to face trial. At an earlier hearing, his defence counsel said he had taken a stupid risk and tried to ‘pull a fast one’, which was quickly uncovered.

At that hearing, Judge Orla Crowe said she would sentence Sadauskas on the following Thursday.