Agricultural contractor is jailed for fraud

By Jessica Magee

An agricultural contractor has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for defrauding two finance companies of more than €160,000, in a scheme involving the leasing of excavators.

Thomas Cullen (60) of Shannon Grove, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim pleaded guilty to two counts of making a gain by deception on May 1 and 21, 2017, when he agreed leasing arrangements with two separate finance companies.

Cullen is the second contractor in the space of a month to be jailed for the offence of deception, as part of a major cross-border probe into scams involving the leasing of heavy plant machinery.

Charles Mavitty (66) of Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, was also jailed for two and a half years last month after he defrauded financing companies of over €240,000 to buy two Hitachi excavators which were never located.

At a sitting of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, Judge Martin Nolan set a headline sentence of five years for Thomas Cullen and commented, “he knew what he was doing.”

Judge Nolan said Cullen was probably unlikely to reoffend and acknowledged that there were others in the background of the scheme.

Sergeant Thomas Doyle told Emmet Nolan BL, prosecuting, that a number of false documents were at the centre of the case, including a false driving licence for Cullen.

The court heard that a company called MPL Plant Hire in Claregalway approached a financing company called Capital Flow Finance, in relation to securing capital for leasing Hitaci excavators.

On March 1, 2017, a false driving licence was provided to Capital Flow, along with documents from MPL Plant including a tax clearance cert, a bank statement and a statement of accounts for Cullen.

Sgt Doyle described these documents in court as “good quality forgeries” which gave the impression that Cullen was involved in a profitable business that would benefit from leasing a Hitaci excavator.

Capital Flow paid over €78,820 in two payments, but the excavator was never located.

Three weeks later on 21 March 2017, MPL Plant Hire approached a second financing company, Finance Ireland, again providing false documents for Cullen.

Cullen gave a false driving license and described himself as an owner/driver who did county council work and needed to lease machines for broadband work.

On March 23, 2017, Finance Ireland paid €83,640 to MPL Plant.

Both finance companies remain at a loss for the entirety of the monies.

Gardaí arrested Cullen who accepted that the documents had been false and said he was paid €5,000 for his role.

Sgt Doyle said that Cullen does not display any signs of wealth.

He has 35 previous convictions, including using false instruments, thefts and driving offences.

Sgt Doyle agreed with Ronan Munro SC, defending, that Cullen was the “face” of an organisation and that there was an element of duress.

The court heard that when gardaí searched Cullen’s flat, they found grim conditions like Cullen was “squatting”, with electricity being piped in from next door.

Mr Monro said Cullen’s health difficulties were complex and included cardiac problems and “a history of a bit of drinking, bit of depression”.

“You could make sandwiches out of the number of tablets he’s on,” said Mr Monroe of his client, adding that it was “quite a miserable existence”.

Cullen was described as slightly vulnerable and “in the twilight of his years”.

“He’s the face, rather than the organiser, of a highly-sophisticated operation,” said counsel.