Peter Conlon disqualified for 16 years over charity donation fraud

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

The High Court disqualified Peter Conlon, founder and former managing director of collapsed fundraising service Pembroke Dynamic, from acting as a company director or officer for 16 years. The proceedings were reported on 8 July 2021.

Mr Justice Mark Sanfey said 18 years was merited in light of Conlon’s conduct, but reduced the period by two years to reflect mitigating factors, including his age, time spent in prison in Switzerland and settlement of the liquidator’s proceedings.

The court heard that about €4 million donated through Pembroke to national and international charities had been misappropriated. Liquidator Myles Kirby accepted that Conlon did not personally benefit from the misappropriated money.

Kirby’s case was that money intended for charities had been used to pay company expenses, including wages and rent, without the knowledge or consent of the charities or donors. Conlon accepted that money had been loaned from the charitable foundation to keep the company going and said he had hoped external investment would allow the loans to be repaid.

In the settlement, Conlon accepted responsibility for Pembroke Dynamic’s debts of up to €2 million and consented to a €2 million judgment in Kirby’s favour. Freezing orders preventing him from reducing his assets below €2 million were to remain in place for three years. A total of €371,000 in bank accounts was to go to the liquidator, with those funds and any other assets received under the settlement to be distributed to creditors.

Conlon pleaded guilty in Switzerland to embezzlement involving almost €4 million intended for charities and used to fund his technology company. He was jailed there in 2018 for four years, with three years suspended. The report said he spent a year in solitary confinement before his release.