Tracey McManus jailed for rent relief fraud

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

Tracey McManus was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 18 months in prison, with the final six months suspended on strict conditions. The proceedings were reported on 30 October 2020.

McManus pleaded guilty to two sample counts of claiming income-tax relief to which she was not entitled, relating to 4 December 2009 and 9 February 2012. She also pleaded guilty to two sample counts of producing an incorrect receipt to Revenue on 12 April 2012. She had no previous convictions.

The report said McManus falsely claimed rent relief for an address where she said she had lived between 2005 and 2008. It said she also made a legitimate rent-relief claim for 2009, when she was living at the address. She submitted false receipts for IVF and dental treatment that she had not undergone.

McManus received excess payments of €7,432.27; with penalties and interest, she owed approximately €73,300. Her barrister, Katherine McGillicuddy, said McManus was in a borderline intellectual range, suffered from paranoid ideation, had €100 in court and would undertake to make weekly repayments.

Judge Elma Sheahan said the debt remained outstanding in its entirety and described the offending as an orchestrated and premeditated campaign for McManus’s enrichment.