A woman who falsely claimed the pension of her dead father-in-law for almost 30 years got her husband to get into bed and pretend to be her 110-year-old relative when Department of Social Protection officials called to her home, a court has heard.
A sitting of Portlaoise Circuit Criminal Court heard how the Laois woman defrauded the State of over €270,000 in what a judge described as “an extraordinary case".
The offences were only detected after a Cork-based researcher had checked out the background of a 110-year-old male in receipt of the State pension.
Margaret Bergin, 73, a married mother of three of Fairfield House, Mountrath, Co Laois, pleaded guilty to 10 sample counts of theft and five sample counts of larceny.
The sum of money involved in the fraud which was carried out over 28 and half years up to February 25th, 2022 amounted to €271,046.
The defendant had falsely claimed the non-contributory State pension of her father-in-law, John Bergin, following his death in November 1993.
Detective Garda Peter Crosbie told a sentencing hearing on Friday that an investigation into the fraud was initiated after an amateur gerontologist contacted Áras an Uachtaráin in March 2022 to enquire about records which indicated a 110-year-old man was living in Mountrath.
Ireland's oldest man?
The researcher, who was suspicious of the individual’s details, believed the claimant’s birthdate of July 2nd, 1911 would have made him Ireland’s oldest man.
The court heard officials from Áras an Uachtaráin subsequently contacted the Department of Social Protection (DSP) whose officials uncovered the fraud after visiting Bergin’s home in Mountrath.
Det Garda Crosbie outlined how several attempts were made by DSP officials to arrange a visit to the centenarian's home to confirm he was alive but were cancelled by the accused due to various excuses, including that her father-in-law was unwell.
He told counsel for the DPP, Will Fennelly BL, that the DSP had also been unable to find any record of Mr Bergin’s death, while the local parish priest had been unable to provide any information about the deceased.
The court heard that when asked if Mr Bergin was visited by a district nurse, Ms Bergin had claimed there was no need for one as she was a nurse and could provide any assistance he required.
Det Garda Crosbie said DSP officials ultimately decided to just call out to the Bergin family home as they believed there were “deliberate attempts” to dissuade them from carrying out their investigation.
He said when they arrived at the house they were asked not to disturb Mr Bergin and were left waiting in the hall door before being brought into a bedroom.
The court heard the DSP officials were introduced to a man in a bed as Mr Bergin whom they were informed was “deaf and confused".
However, Det Garda Crosbie said they were unconvinced that the individual was Mr Bergin as he looked much younger and bore no resemblance to a photo they had of the pensioner.
The witness said the person in the bed also seemed to be fully clothed and wearing shoes or boots under the bed clothes, while there were no medical aids in the room that one would expect for such an elderly person.
Det Garda Crosbie said he subsequently discovered Mr Bergin’s burial place at a graveyard in Clonad, Co Laois while a local undertaker had also confirmed that the accused’s father-in-law had died in November 1993, aged 82.
Áras an Uachtaráin silver coins
The detective gave evidence that he discovered silver coins given every year by Áras an Uachtaráin to people who had reached 100 years during a search of Ms Bergin’s home on May 10th, 2022.
He said Ms Bergin claimed she did not know what he was talking about when he had asked her about getting such coins from the President.
The search also found an uncashed cheque for €2,540 from the President on the occasion of Mr Bergin’s 100th birthday as well as receipts from An Post for his pension and mass cards sent to the family at the time of his funeral.
The court heard a review of DSP records found Mr Bergin’s pension had been claimed for 28 and a half years after his death, while his daughter-in-law had also signed various forms in his name.
Det Garda Crosbie said Ms Bergin failed to show up at an appointed time to be interviewed by gardaí on July 22nd, 2022.
He recounted how she arrived in the Garda station an hour later just after he had received a message from her solicitor that she was unwell and needed time to undergo some medical tests.
The detective said dealing at that stage with the accused was “very frustrating” and he took the decision to arrest Ms Bergin in September 2022 after hearing nothing further from her.
When questioned, he said Ms Bergin was fully cooperative and accepted she had signed various documents.
She admitted to gardaí that it was her husband, Séamus, who was in bed when DSP officials called to her house, although she had told them he was away at a market in Tipperary.
Asked if the accused was in denial about her offending, Det Garda Crosbie said it was hard to know but that she had commented about not knowing when or how she could stop.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Damien Colgan SC, the witness said Ms Bergin had expressed a wish that she had never started claiming her late father-in-law’s pension.
I knew I was in trouble. I hated it.
“I knew I was in trouble. I hated it,” she told gardaí. “Nobody told you to stop. It wasn’t like the Children’s Allowance.
The court heard she claimed that the family’s farm was not going well when she started claiming the pension, and they had bank loans and mortgages.
While they did not need the money in later years, Ms Bergin said it was “a situation where I just couldn’t say no".
She added: “It was a vicious circle. It was like digging a hole when you don’t stop digging.”
Det Crosbie said Bergin had also stated that her husband knew nothing about what she had done.
Judge Keenan Johson asked the witness why no alarm bells had gone off within the DSP about a 110-year-old individual claiming a pension.
“It’s difficult to say exactly what went wrong,” replied Det Garda Crosbie.
He added that he understood changes had been made in relation to all people over 90 years who claimed the State pension.
Mr Colgan confirmed to the court that Bergin, who has no previous convictions, had worked as a psychiatric nurse before getting married in 1977.
Counsel admitted the case involved “bizarre circumstances” which had left him “baffled".
Mr Colgan said the accused, who is in poor health, had brought €35,000 to court as restitution, which was an amount that had put her family “to the pin of their collar” to put together.
Sentencing of Bergin had previously been adjourned in February after the court heard she had been admitted to hospital.
Judge Johnson observed that the true value of the stolen money was probably worth over €400,000, which had been compounded by her continuous efforts to “cover her tracks” and initial lack of cooperation with officials.
'Farcical'
The judge said getting someone into bed to pretend to be her father-in-law was “so bizarre it’s farcical".
Mr Colgan said the incident highlighted the “nature of her panic” and pointed out she had not looked for a medical card.
The judge said the pension had funded the accused’s lifestyle and the offences had been premeditated and calculated.
He said he would regard it as a seriously aggravating factor that Mr Bergin’s death did not appear to have been registered, which he claimed was “outrageous".
While he would not send a 73-year-old woman to prison lightly, the judge said he would need a lot of persuasion not to hand down a custodial sentence in the case “given the level of deception".
Judge Johnson said the accused would have to come up with a much better offer than the €35,000 she had brought to court.
He adjourned sentencing until October 29th to allow the accused to provide further restitution and to allow probation and medical reports to be prepared.
The judge also praised the researcher who had “served the State” by uncovering the fraud.
