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A woman who stole € 760,000 from her employer, the Donegal Education Center, and spent most of it on high-end bags and clothing has been jailed for two years.
Tara Sweeney, 47, of The Glebe, Donegal Town, pleaded guilty to 20 examples of downtown robbery charges over a six-year period.
In sentencing today in Letterkenny court, Judge John Aylmer said that Ms. Sweeney’s crimes were “systematic and premeditated.”
Ms. Sweeney was an account manager in downtown Donegal Town from 2009 to 2015 and had access to numerous bank accounts.
In 2015, a new director of the company suspected that large sums of money were missing, an investigation was launched, and Ms Sweeney subsequently resigned from her position.
A search of his house by gardaí found a room full of black bags that continued with the documentation of the educational center.
An accounting firm was drawn up showing wire transfers to Ms Sweeney’s account worth 760,000 euros.
Subsequent investigations showed that Ms Sweeney had spent much of the money on clothing, designer handbags, perfumes, and jewelry with many high-end brands, including Prada and Gucci. Many of the recovered bags and clothing were not even removed from their packaging, the court heard.
Ms. Sweeney’s attorney, Mr. Peter Nolan told the court that the case and his actions have destroyed her life. Since the case came to light, Ms. Sweeney has received hate mail and is afraid to go out, she said.
However, Nolan said, Ms Sweeney is in the process of selling her house, which is worth € 150,000 and the profit of between € 60,000 and € 70,000 will be returned to the Donegal Education Center.
Nolan said: “This has been a catastrophic event in his life. He has lost his home, he has lost his family, he has no friends and is now in an outcast in Donegal City.”
He added that it was a sad and unusual case and that if some money is recovered from the recovery of all the designer brands, perhaps it can also be returned.
The court heard that the Donegal Education Center is also initiating Superior Court proceedings against Ms. Sweeney.
Judge Aylmer said there was also a serious breach of trust by Ms. Sweeney against her employers.
He said it had been suggested that the thefts were the result of “compulsive addiction,” but said there was no psychological or psychiatric evidence for this, rather it was the result of purchasing “bad mood” products.
However, he said that Ms. Sweeney had no prior convictions and had been fully cooperative with the Gardaí.
He said that the sale of his house would raise between 60,000 and 70,000 euros and that this would raise about 10% of the money he had stolen.
A request was also submitted for the goods to be purchased with the stolen money, including high-end bags and clothing, as well as documentation given to the Donegal Education Center.
He said the crime was in the middle range for such crimes and deserved a three-year prison sentence.
However, due to extenuating circumstances, the judge said he would suspend the last twelve months.
Judge Aylmer said he had to consider suspending the entire sentence, but added that due to the seriousness of the crimes, he was beyond the threshold of suspending the balance of the two-year sentence.
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