A Tesco staff team leader has been spared jail over a bogus Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) claim worth almost €14,000.
Wayne O’Leary (34) of Foxdene Green, Lucan, Co Dublin, had denied three counts of submitting false online PUP applications, resulting in more than €15,000 in payments over three periods in 2020 and 2021. He received the payments after claiming he had been temporarily laid off by Tesco, despite working full-time and seeking a move into management.
He claimed he later discovered his partner had submitted the applications, but Judge Anthony Halpin described his version as extraordinary and incredible.
Following a hearing at Dublin District Court, Judge Halpin found the father of three guilty of two charges related to combined payments of €13,750 into his bank account.
Robert De Niro on his TV debut as a US president: We need heroes like this on screen and in the real world too
Five days in San Sebastián and Bilbao: Both Basque cities are beautiful but one became my favourite
Irishwoman in El Salvador: I’m 60 and moved halfway around the world. Everything is different
Why has much of Ireland had no sun for 10 days now? The jet stream is to blame
Convicting and fining him €500, Judge Halpin said: “Unfortunately, dishonesty has become as infectious as Covid-19 ever was and is spreading at an alarming rate in all quarters of society; it may well require us all to undergo a moral vaccination programme.”
He noted money came from false applications for the PUP introduced by the Government to help workers laid off during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
He dismissed the final charge because the €2,100 payment for the connected claim went into his partner’s Revolut account.
O’Leary had contended his partner had been responsible for all the applications in his name, claiming she had a gambling problem. He said he was unaware of the payments until a garda arrived at the couple’s home with a summons. He said she had used the money to gamble and pay for an assessment for one of their children.
