A Dublin man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after he unlawfully claimed €25,000 in social welfare payments under a different name.
The man in question Bernard Flynn (63) a father of three with an address of Cannon Burke Flats, Cabra Dublin, had pleaded guilty to the offence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court recently. Mr Flynn faced a number of charges totaling to 11 of stealing from the Department of Social Protection at River Valley Post Office in Swords Co Dublin between the years 2011 and 2014.
It is understood that Mr Flynn fraudulently visited the post office 123 times in total to claim jobseekers and rent allowance under a different name of Brendan Flynn. However Mr Flynn, also legitimately collected his social welfare payments in his own name at the same post office, the court heard that Mr Flynn was subsequently caught after the post office decided to use facial recognition software.