A man who claimed £73,000 dole under his grandfather's name and who was also involved in a bank fraud has been jailed for 3 1/2 years.
Thomas Loftus (60), married and unemployed, Clonliffe Road, Ballybough, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four counts of forgery on dates between April 9th, 1991 and October 10th, 1994. Loftus also pleaded guilty before Judge Dominic Lynch to four further charges of forgery and four of obtaining sums totalling £7,000 and £8,000 sterling on May 26th-29th, 1998, at AIB Bank, Tallaght.
Det Garda Colin Rochford told Mr Fergal Foley, prosecuting, that Loftus had become part of what is now known to gardai as a State-wide fraud involving phone calls to AIB in Tallaght on behalf of a fictitious company called TradeMet.
The bank would get a phone call purporting to be from TradeMet with an order for cash in sterling and pounds for collection from the foreign exchange bureau.
Loftus was "gopher" and collected the cash at AIB in Tallaght Village daily. This involved obtaining withdrawal slips with two forged signatures which he submitted each time in an envelope. The money was then handed over to him.
The bank became suspicious on the fourth day and contacted gardai who caught Loftus. They recovered £3,000 and £1,000 sterling.
Det Garda John Lyons told Mr Foley that Loftus falsely signed social welfare benefits under his grandfather's name, Thomas Farrell, from 1991 to 1994. Loftus had worked for his grandfather for some time under the same name and withdrew benefits to a total of £73,377.63 obtained as weekly payments in various amounts of £120-£122 per week. Loftus had 11 previous convictions, the last five for forgery.
Det Garda Lyons also agreed with Ms Marie Torrens, defending, that Loftus was a "hopeless alcoholic who would do anything for his next drink". Ms Torrens said his father had been his sole drinking pal until he died.