Former AIB fraudster on run for 20 years kept conning victims using real name
It has also emerged that – despite being at the centre of an international manhunt – former AIB executive Kieran Ashcroft allegedly continued to defraud people of their life savings. At least 15 families in Scotland claim they lost more than €1m between them after employing the smooth-talking Cork man as a builder.
Many of these complaints have been upheld by the UK Financial Ombudsman, and some of the families have received refunds from their banks. Kieran Ashcroft left Ireland over 20 years ago. Pic: File
Ashcroft is being investigated by detectives from Greater Glasgow's Economic Crime and Financial Investigations unit. Sources also confirmed police in Scotland are 'liaising with counterparts from An Garda Síochána' as part of their investigation into the fraud allegations against Ashcroft.
One of Ashcroft's alleged Scottish victims, Laura McKenchie from Glasgow, contacted gardaí and Interpol eight months ago to alert them about his then whereabouts. But since then, the trail appears to have run cold.
Ashcroft has been on the run from the Irish authorities since 2004, when he went on the run after being arrested and questioned about a multi-million-euro fraud. However, it has emerged that the Corkman did not travel far and continued to use his real name when allegedly defrauding other victims in Scotland. Ashcroft came to the attention of gardaí after he was accused of swindling at least €3m – and possibly as much as €6m – from customers. Pic: KarlM Photography/Shutterstock
Laura McKenchie urged gardaí to redouble their efforts to catch the wanted Cork man so that other people are not cheated of their life savings. Ms McKenchie said: 'It's a shock to learn from Extra.ie that he was using his real name… it's not like he was using a false name.
'He should have been easily identifiable. He has been able to do whatever he wants. I notified the gardaí last November about his whereabouts. Had he been caught [before this], I and all these other families would not be suffering and financially ruined.
'If it wasn't for the fact we have suffered so badly, you would almost admire the fact that he has managed to evade so many times over the years.' The mother-of-one said it is 'frustrating he is still out there'. Ashcroft left the country more than 20 years ago after he was dismissed from his job at the AIB branch in Midleton, Co. Cork. Pic: Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
She told Extra.ie: 'We're disappointed that he hasn't been caught despite us doing everything we can to show where he is, what he is going and the fact that there is history there. If the gardaí would expedite their efforts, it would put a stop to him being able to carry on this fraud and for vulnerable, innocent people to suffer.
'At the end of the day, you have people who I say are vulnerable. But so many of us in Glasgow were busy professional people who trusted a builder who wasn't a builder, and before we knew it, our life's savings were gone, and our homes were totally unliveable.'
Ashcroft left the country more than 20 years ago after he was dismissed from his job at the AIB branch in Midleton, Co. Cork, where he had been entrusted to invest customers' life savings. He came to the attention of gardaí after he was accused of swindling at least €3m – and possibly as much as €6m – from customers, his employers, and other financial institutions, including the Bank of Ireland, ACC and Ulster Bank. The last known sighting of Kieran Ashcroft in the UK. Pic: File
It is believed that, between 1998 and 2003, Ashcroft swindled money from as many as 20 people. His victims reportedly included his mother and his only sister. Some victims claimed they had lost as much as six-figure sums.
But those familiar with the case suspected there were many other victims who were too embarrassed to come forward. A garda source told the MoS at the time: 'Ashcroft really played on people's fears of the Revenue, and when he was suspended from his job, the bank went to people asking them about their dealings with him.
'But these people thought he was such a nice fella that they told him the bank had been on to them. Ashcroft convinced these people that the bank would blow the whistle on them to the Revenue, and so these people did not get back to the bank.' The Isle of Colonsay. Pic: Getty Images
'He had several accounts with every bank, and he was very cute about covering his tracks. He got mortgages out on properties and then remortgaged them again so that when his house of cards came tumbling down, there were no assets to be seized, and the banks have sold some of these on.'
Ashcroft was arrested by gardaí for questioning in February 2004. Soon afterwards, the father of one vanished, leaving in his wake a trail of debt, a usurped girlfriend, a young child and an anxious drug baron anxious to get his investment back.
Gardaí believed the then 44-year-old had fled to Spain, where he was living under an assumed name. But instead of starting a new life on the Mediterranean, Ashcroft went no further than Scotland. He set himself up as a builder on the island of Colonsay, located in the Hebrides, which is visible from the coast of Co. Donegal on a clear day.
But by the time the Cork man arrived on the island, which has a population of 125, he was no longer known as Kieran Ashcroft but was using the name Walter. This is also his father's name, and Ashcroft's official name on his birth certificate, which lists his name as Walter Kieran Ashcroft.
At least five different families on the island who employed Ashcroft as a builder claim they were swindled after paying him to do work that was substandard. After leaving the remote island, Ashcroft then made his way to Glasgow. A further 15 families have now come forward to claim they were defrauded of thousands of euros.
In Scotland, banks are obliged to refund money to unsuspecting customers who are defrauded by a known scammer. Some families have been refunded their money after the Financial Ombudsman ruled in their favour.
More recently, Ashcroft has been spotted in the Perthshire area of Scotland, where he befriended a number of elderly people involved in a local Anglican church. He volunteered to do some work with them and often accepted meals in return for doing odd jobs for pensioners.
The last known photo of Ashcroft shows the Cork man sharing Christmas dinner with some elderly members of the church. However, he has since been banned after church officials became aware of his colourful past.
Asked if Ashcroft is still a person of interest, and why they had failed to find him even though he is using his official name, a garda spokesman said: 'This office does not comment on named individuals. An Garda Síochána continues to investigate reports of fraud at a financial institution in Ireland in 2004. As this is an ongoing investigation, this office has no further comment to provide.'
A Police Scotland spokesperson added: 'We have received a number of reports of fraud in connection with building works carried out by a company in the Glasgow area. A joint investigation involving Police Scotland and Trading Standards Scotland is ongoing.'
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