A judge has ordered a woman who claimed her late father-in-law’s pension for more than 28 years to return 10 silver centenarian coins along with letters and centenarian bounty cheques to the office of the President of Ireland.
At Portlaoise District Court, Judge Andrew Cody was asked to rule on a police property application over the coins and cheques issued by President Michael D Higgins on behalf of the State to the late John Bergin, who died in November 1993.
Those with an interest in the property – Áras an Uachtaráin, along with Seamus and Margaret Bergin – had been notified the issue was coming before the court for consideration.
Solicitor Philip Meagher, representing Margaret Bergin, who has been jailed for social welfare fraud, said she had no interest in laying claim to the items.
Judge Cody noted that Margaret Bergin (73), with an address at Fairfield House, Mountrath, Co Laois, had pleaded guilty to several charges of theft and larceny relating to her claiming more than €270,000 from the State illegally. “No effort was made to register his death by his son Seamus or daughter-in-law Margaret,” the judge said.
He noted the issue surrounding the medals and cheques “only came to light when an amateur genealogist ... was undertaking research and discovered that there was a person purportedly living in Laois by the name of John Bergin who was reputedly 110 years of age, and contacted the office of the President to inquire about their records relating to the late John Bergin and the centenarian bounty”.
Gardaí were subsequently alerted and conducted a search of the Bergin home, where they found the coins, letters and cheques in a handbag belonging to Margaret Bergin. She was arrested and acknowledged she had claimed the pension falsely or that she had signed documents in the name of the late John Bergin.
She was convicted of social welfare fraud and sentenced to five years and six months in prison, with the final three years and six months suspended.
The tradition by which centenarians receive what is described as a bounty goes back to the first president of Ireland, Douglas Hyde, in the 1940s. People who have reached their 100th birthday receive a gift from the State of €2,540, a letter from the president wishing them a happy birthday and congratulating them for their longevity, and a special commemorative coin. Similar gifts and letters are sent on their 101st and every subsequent birthday.
On Friday, Judge Cody noted Margaret Bergin was not prosecuted for any offence involving the centenarian letters, cheques or coins, and accordingly these were not the subject matter of any criminal prosecution.
“In my view the responsibility for dealing with any correspondence arriving to any household decades after a person has passed away rests with their next of kin, living at that address, and in this case that is his son Seamus,” he said.
“In relation to this application, John Bergin’s son Seamus continued for 10 years to accept these coins, cheques and letters without ever alerting the President’s office or returning them to their rightful owner.
“I am satisfied that these medals were in the possession of Seamus Bergin and/or Margaret Bergin as a result of deliberate and repeated fraud, and [they] have no rightful claim whatsoever on the medals, letters and coins.
“I am satisfied that they should be returned to their rightful owner, the office of the President of Ireland.”
The Police (Property) Act, 1897 provides that a court can make an order for the delivery of property to the person appearing to the court to be the rightful owner.
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