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Irish Examiner
11 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Woman avoids jail for 'extremely serious' passport fraud
A woman whose passport fraud was extremely serious and called into question 'the integrity of both the Irish birth certificate registration system and the Irish passport system' has avoided a prison sentence. Judge Dermot Sheehan imposed a fully suspended three-year sentence on the 44-year-old woman who cannot be named as it would identify her first born child. The judge said she manipulated a vulnerable Cork man to put his name forward as the biological father of her child when in fact they effectively had no relationship of any kind, and this gave her advantages in ultimately obtaining citizenship. This man previously got a suspended jail term. Judge Sheehan said at Monday's sentencing hearing at Cork Circuit Criminal Court: These matters are extremely serious. We have a system of permitting people to reside in this country based on procedures which people must obey. If they try to deceive the system it is very difficult to be fair to everybody. 'If someone like the accused does this there may be people — equally worthy — who fail to obtain residency because of what the accused has done. Assessment by the authorities has to be based on her being honest. The consequences are very serious. They enabled a person to call themselves a citizen of this country on foot of the deceit.' Mitigating factors However, following submissions from defence senior counsel Jane Hyland, Judge Sheehan said there were noteworthy mitigating factors including the plea of guilty, albeit entered on the day the trial was due to commence, and her long-term mental health issues. It was also urged on the judge by Ms Hyland to take into account her remorse and the fact that she is primary carer for a number of children and that other than the matters before the court she had made a significant, positive contribution to her local community. Intricate details of the frauds Detective Sergeant Keith Cleary of Garda National Immigration Bureau outlined the intricate details of how frauds were carried out by the foreign national who got a Cork man to pretend that he was the biological father of one of her children. On the basis of this pretence she secured advantages for herself and her family in terms of rights of work, of residence and the eventual securing of Irish citizenship. The 44-year-old non-national woman pleaded guilty to four fraud charges in November 2024. She cannot be identified as it would lead inevitably to the identification of her child which is prohibited in this case under the Children's Act. She admitted falsely claiming that an Irish man was the biological father of her child, and three counts of false information in passport applications in 2009, 2012 and 2017. This man previously pleaded guilty to his part in this deception. The first charge stated that she provided information which was false or misleading contrary to Section 69 Subsection 3 of the Civil Registration Act 2004, namely that on July 29 2009 at the Civil Registration Office, Adelaide Street, Cork, did provide to the registrar, particulars of information which she knew to be false or misleading, knowingly providing false information naming (co-defendant) as the biological father of her child. The other three charges under the Passports Act 2008 relate to applications for passport renewal for the child. Arrived in Ireland on a student visa Det Sgt Cleary began the account of the woman's criminality stating that the defendant came to Ireland on St Patrick's Day 2008 on a student visa for the purpose of studying. Tracking back to her entry, the next person to be processed was her husband — the biological father of her four children. She lived with him from the time of her arrival in Ireland. She gave birth to a child in Cork in December 2008 — her fourth child. The name of the father that appeared on the birth certificate for this baby was a Cork man, who was never in a relationship with the accused. He has since been prosecuted and given a suspended sentence for his part in the deception. He later told the immigration bureau that his partner became friendly with the defendant and through that contact she — the defendant — asked him to commit the act of forgery in relation the birth cert. This man said he knew the day would come when he would be approached by gardaí and realised as time went by that he was way out of his depth with the act of criminality, to which he had literally put his name. He said he had felt under pressure to please everybody. Passport application Once the passport for the newborn child was obtained with the false identification of the father, the defendant and this man went to a garda station and proceeded with an application for a passport for the child. A member of An Garda Síochána signed the application for the passport and this passport was later issued. 'This was a fraudulently-obtained Irish passport,' the detective said. The first benefit of this for the mother was that her visa which allowed her to work no more that 20 hours a week, now became a 'stamp 4 visa' whereby her right to work was unlimited. She ultimately applied for and was granted citizenship in 2015, and her husband was also naturalised in 2017. Her husband identified himself as the biological father of the fourth child and supporting DNA verified this. The name of the man who pretended to be the father was explained as a mistake, and that the actual intention was that he would be named as a guardian. Ultimately, she pleaded guilty to the charges at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
Irish Daily Mirror
10-05-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Woman got Irish man to pretend he was father of child to obtain Irish passport
A woman who got a man to pretend he was the biological father of her fourth child to obtain an Irish birth certificate and passport used the initial act of fraud to secure rights of residence for her other children. Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that the 44 year-old woman was ultimately able to obtain citizenship for herself, her husband and other family members arising out of the initial deception. Det Sgt Keith Cleary of the Garda National Immigration Bureau told Judge Helen Boyle that the woman moved to Ireland in 2008 on a student visa. He said that the defendant had lived with the biological father of her children since she moved to Ireland. She said that the woman gave birth to a child in 2008 and got an Irish man to put his name down on the birth certificate as the father. Det Sgt Cleary said that the woman manipulated a man with certain vulnerabilities. That man previously received a suspended sentence for his role in the fraud. The woman, who cannot be named as it would identify her child, pleaded guilty to falsely claiming that the Irish man was the father of her child and to three counts of providing false information in passport applications in 2009, 2012 and 2017. Dt Sgt Cleary said that obtaining the false Irish passport for the child gave the woman an immigration advantage. She was subsequently able to apply for an Irish passport for herself and her other children. The woman obtained Irish citizenship ten years ago and her husband was 'last across the line' being naturalised in 2017. Dt Sgt Cleary said that the man who pretended to be the biological child of the woman's fourth child was 'out of his depth' and 'felt obliged' to help her. Dt Sgt Cleary said when the woman was arrested in 2023 she claimed it was all 'a big mistake' and that she simply had 'wanted to name him (the Irish man) as a guardian.' He said that the actions of the woman had called in to question "the integrity of both the Irish birth certificate registration system and the Irish passport system". Sentencing in the case was adjourned until June 26 next to allow for a preparation of a psychiatric report. Judge Boyle said that the presence of psychiatric issues in the background could have an impact on the outcome of the case. The first charge stated that the woman provided information which was false or misleading contrary to Section 69 Subsection 3 of the Civil Registration Act 2004, namely that on July 29 2009 at the Civil Registration Office, Adelaide Street, Cork, did provide to the registrar, particulars of information which she knew to be false or misleading, knowingly providing false information naming (another defendant) as the biological father of her child. The other three charges under the Passports Act 2008 relate to applications for passport renewal for a child.
Irish Examiner
09-05-2025
- Irish Examiner
Non-national woman persuaded Cork man to say he was the father of her child to obtain passport
Sentencing of a woman whose passport fraud called into question 'the integrity of both the Irish birth certificate registration system and the Irish passport system' has been further adjourned for a psychiatric report. Detective Sergeant Keith Cleary of the Garda National Immigration Bureau outlined the intricate details of how frauds were carried out by the foreign national, who got a Cork man to pretend he was the biological father of one of her children. On the basis of this pretence, she secured advantages for herself and her family in terms of rights of work, of residence and the eventual securing of Irish citizenship. The 44-year-old non-national woman pleaded guilty to four fraud charges in November 2024. She cannot be identified as it would lead inevitably to the identification of her child, which is prohibited in this case under the Children's Act. She admitted falsely claiming an Irish man was the biological father of her child, and three counts of false information in passport applications in 2009, 2012 and 2017. This man previously pleaded guilty to his part in this deception. The first charge stated she provided information which was false or misleading contrary to Section 69 Subsection 3 of the Civil Registration Act 2004, namely that on July 29, 2009, at the Civil Registration Office, Adelaide Street, Cork, she did provide to the registrar particulars of information which she knew to be false or misleading, knowingly providing false information naming [co-defendant] as the biological father of her child. The other three charges under the Passports Act 2008 relate to applications for passport renewal for the child. Det Sgt Cleary began the account of the woman's criminality, saying the defendant came to Ireland on St Patrick's Day 2008 on a student visa for the purpose of studying. Tracking back to her entry, the next person to be processed was her husband — the biological father of her four children. She lived with him from the time of her arrival in Ireland. She gave birth to a child in Cork in December 2008 — her fourth child. The name of the father that appeared on the birth cert for this baby was a Cork man, who was never in a relationship with the accused. He has since been prosecuted and given a suspended sentence for his part in the deception. He later told the immigration bureau his partner became friendly with the defendant and through that contact she — the defendant — asked him to commit the act of forgery in relation the birth cert. This man said he knew the day would come when he would be approached by gardaí and realised as time went by he was way out of his depth with the act of criminality, to which he had literally put his name. He said he had felt under pressure to please everybody. Once the passport for the newborn child was obtained with the false identification of the father, the defendant and this man went to a Garda station and proceeded with an application for a passport for the child. A member of An Garda Síochána signed the application for the passport and this passport was later issued. 'This was a fraudulently obtained Irish passport,' the detective said. The first benefit of this for the mother was that her visa which allowed her to work no more than 20 hours a week now became a 'stamp 4 visa', whereby her right to work was unlimited. She ultimately applied for and was granted citizenship in 2015, and her husband was also naturalised in 2017. Her husband identified himself as the biological father of the fourth child and supporting DNA verified this. The name of the man who pretended to be the father was explained as a mistake, and the actual intention was that he would be named as a guardian. Ultimately, she pleaded guilty to the charges. Her senior counsel, Jane Hyland, said she needed a psychiatric report on the accused to be furnished to the court before the finalising of sentencing. Judge Boyle agreed to adjourn sentencing, saying the presence of psychiatric issues in the background could have a significant impact on the outcome of the matter. Sentencing was adjourned at Cork Circuit Criminal Court until June 26.
