Irish sports legend put an iPhone charger up his nose in cancer scam scheme
DJ Carey, a celebrated hurling star, recently pleaded guilty to 10 counts of deception at Dublin's Criminal Courts of Justice for faking illness to solicit money under false pretences.
As part of his ruse, the 54-year-old shared an image of himself lying in bed with an iPhone charging cable taped under his nose to mimic a nasal oxygen tube.
The court also heard how Carey targeted victims using a series of letter templates.
'Basically they were letters looking for help. He had one [relating to] Revenue, and he would send them to people in business who had issues with Revenue and they would be sympathetic. He had one related to the banks, saying 'the banks were at him' and that was for people who he knew had issues with the banks,' a state witness said.
'Then he had the one about cancer and sympathy. He sent that out to people who he knew either had cancer themselves or were bereaved because of cancer. He was sending them out to everybody.'
READ MORE | New recruitment platform aiming to protect job seekers from scams enters the market
Carey, who fell into debt in 2011, faked his illness from 2014 to 2022, during which time he even conned Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien into giving him millions. O'Brien was among the 13 complainants involved in the case.
Carey's lawyer acknowledged he had lied about having cancer but argued he does suffer from genuine health conditions, including a heart condition that required surgery.
Carey will be sentenced on 29 October and could face years in jail if convicted.
It's a disgraceful end to a man hailed as a national icon and who has been described as the 'first superstar' of hurling – a stick-and-ball field game of ancient Gaelic origin.
In a bizarre twist, his sister Catriona Carey (48) has also faced fraud-related charges. A trained accountant and former international hockey player for Ireland, she appeared in court earlier this year on multiple money laundering charges linked to a financial services firm she operated.
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