A Fás assistant manager was today charged with defrauding more than €600,000 from the State training agency.
James Brooke-Tyrell from Church Gate Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow, faced 47 charges of deception and attempted deception after billing the organisation for films he made.
The 53-year-old was remanded on bail after a brief hearing in the Dublin District Court.
Mr Brooke-Tyrell is accused of manufacturing a false tendering process, while an assistant manager of video production at the Fás offices on Baggot Street, that led to the agency issuing cheques.
Mr Brooke-Tyrell, a video production manager, was a grade seven Fás employee tasked with film-making to promote and market the agency at home and abroad and record its work.
He was charged at the Bridewell Garda Station with billing Fás head office on Dublin’s Baggot Street with false invoices for films which never existed.
It is alleged the sums of money were lodged into bank accounts which Mr Brooke-Tyrell controlled in the name of Yard Media.
A spokeswoman for the production firm Yard Media told The Irish Timesthe company was not aware of Mr Brooke-Tyrell's actions or that he had allegedly set up an account in its name.
She said the first the company had been aware of the matter was when it was informed by the Garda fraud squad.
"Yard Media was totally unaware that this account was set up."
Last month, an investigation by a public spending watchdog into Fás revealed the Garda was asked to investigate the mysterious payment of €622,000 to two individuals.
The Comptroller and Auditor General revealed the fraud squad had been called in after an audit of the agency’s advertising and promotions spending found 47 invoices to two different payees could not be accounted for between 2002 and 2008.
Mr Brooke-Tyrell lost his job with Fás at the start of the year.
He had not been arrested but arranged to meet detectives at the Bridewell Garda station and was charged minutes before appearing in the packed courtroom.
“When charged he replied ‘I’ve no reply, I have nothing to say’,” Garda Alan Browne told the court.
A lawyer from the Director of Public Prosecutions’ office said more charges may follow.
Mr Brooke-Tyrell was granted bail, legal aid and ordered back to the court in six weeks.
The accused shook hands with an associate Ted Crowley after he agreed to post an independent surety as part of the bail conditions.
Mr Brooke-Tyrrell was also ordered to hand over his own bond of €1,000 and to surrender his passport ahead of the next court date, November 17th.
The defendant was a film producer with Fás and worked on documentaries to promote the agency’s work, one of which was broadcast on RTÉ television.
The charge sheet showed he used the names of a number of media firms on the bills submitted to Fás. Others included the Dublin-based High Wire digital production firm.
Fás has been hit by a series of scandals over lavish expenses and lax accounting in the last year and a half. Former chief executive Rody Molloy resigned in the wake of the controversies but earned a €1 million golden handshake on top of his pension.
The board has since confirmed it will step down.
Additional reporting: PA