A 59-year-old bank official targeted the accounts of elderly and vulnerable customers over a two-year period to steal over €60,000 which she used to fund her children’s third level education and pay her mortgage.
Sheila McLoughlin, from Cullane, Claremorris, Co Mayo, also stole christening money lodged in the accounts of two new-born babies before receiving a “package” along with a pension on her retirement from the bank in November 2012.
She repaid the money at her sentence hearing yesterday at Galway Circuit Criminal Court and was given a suspended two and a half year sentence.
The mother of five pleaded guilty before the court last November to 23 sample charges of theft from 14 client accounts at AIB, Vicar Street, Tuam, over a two-year period, from July, 2010 to November, 2012, contrary to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.
Prosecuting barrister Conor Fahy BL, told the sentence hearing Wednesday that McLoughlin received a gratuity or “package” and a pension when she left the bank in November 2012.
Detective Tom Breen gave evidence the then bank manager made a complaint to the Garda in Tuam in April, 2013 regarding the misappropriation of money from customer accounts. The bank carried out an audit and identified14 accounts had been affected.
McLoughlin had stolen varying sums of money from the accounts, ranging from €400 to €20,283.
He said the thefts came to light when two widows noticed transactions on their accounts after they went to withdraw money to cover the expense of their husbands’ funerals.
Another victim was a man with special needs whose carer noticed discrepancies in his account.
“Most of the victims were elderly. Two were new-born. There was very little activity on the accounts for a while and that is why she targeted them,” Det Breen explained. He said the bank had reimbursed the victims.
Defence barrister Deirdre Browne said her client had brought €60,000 to court to repay AIB which had been collected from her extended family. She said until last November no one knew of her client's offending behaviour except her husband - who, Mr Fahy told the court, had a 58-acre farm.
Ms Browne said her client spent the money on her children’s third level education and had come under severe financial pressure regarding her mortgage which went into arrears in 2009. Proceedings, she said, currently stood before the Circuit Court in Mayo.
“Are you seriously suggesting that if someone owes money on their mortgages, that entitles them to steal from their employer?” Judge Rory McCabe asked.
Noting that McLoughlin had no previous convictions, had repaid the money and was remorseful, the judge said it would not be in the public interest to impose a immediate custodial sentence.
He said the money lodged in court in no way made up for the distress caused to the affected customers or for the damage done to the bank’s reputation. But said he was reluctant to put the taxpayer to the additional expense of feeding, clothing and housing the accused in prison even though crimes of breach of trust would normally warrant an immediate custodial sentence.