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A senior employee of a large Dublin accounting firm managed to claim more than € 1 million in fraudulent expenses over a two-year period, Gardaí suspects.
The employee, a man in his 30s who was arrested on Monday, allegedly claimed expenses for both personal matters and non-existent work performed on behalf of the company, which is understood to be one of Ireland’s leading accounting firms. market.
Officials from the Garda National Economic Crimes Bureau (GNECB) were shocked by the amount of money involved in the alleged fraud. The suspect’s high-level position within the company, combined with the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, is believed to have allowed the suspected fraud until the end of 2020 to avoid detection.
Overload claims
Garda sources said the alleged fraud is believed to be a “one-man operation” and that neither the company itself nor other employees are suspected of being involved.
The alleged fraud was first detected by the company during the Christmas period and the Gardaí were alerted in early January 2021. They believed the defendants had started overcharging the company sometime in late 2018 o early 2019.
“His position in the company was such that he was allowed to claim expenses for the work he did for the company, as well as for his own expenses,” said a source.
Frozen accounts
“He overclaimed his own expenses and doubled on everything. I just uploaded a huge bill. It is an astronomical amount to accumulate in such a short period of time.
“The company seemed to do everything right. Once they found out, they immediately reported it. “
Gardaí believes the man was hiding the money in two bank accounts, one in Ireland and one abroad. Since then, large sums of money have been frozen in both accounts, the Garda said in a statement.
The GNECB began investigating the matter in January and has conducted several searches. The employee was arrested shortly after noon on Monday.
He is currently detained at the Terenure Garda police station, where he can be interrogated up to 24 hours before his release or indictment.
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