14 June 2024 , 21:15
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A woman claimed her dead father-in law's pension receiving more than £227,000 and even got her husband to pretend to be the 110-year-old when officials visited, a court heard.
Mum-of-three Margaret Bergin, 73, from Mountrath, County Laois, in Ireland, pleaded guilty to ten sample counts of theft and five sample counts of larceny. She wrongly received the money over a period of almost 30 years in what a judge called 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, Portlaoise Circuit Criminal Court heard. The theft was carried out up to 2022 and amounted to €271,046.
The defendant had falsely claimed the state pension of her father-in-law, John Bergin, following his death in 1993. Detective Garda Peter Crosbie told a sentencing hearing on Friday that an investigation started after an amateur gerontologist (a researcher who studies ageing) contacted Áras an Uachtaráin to enquire about records which indicated a 110-year-old man was living in Mountrath.
The researcher, who was suspicious of the individual's details, believed the claimant's birth date of July 2, 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..
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Bergin claimed the state pension of her dead father-in-lawDet Garda Crosbie said that the defendant had made up a stream of excuses to try and stop officials visiting her father-in-law but also that no records were found of the man's death, including from the local parish priest. 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. When they arrived at the house they were asked not to disturb Mr Bergin and were left waiting at the hall door before being brought into a bedroom, reported BelfastLive.
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 later 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.
A coin from President Higgins which centenarians receive in IrelandThe detective said he found silver coins given every year by Áras an Uachtaráin to people who have reached 100 years during a search of Ms Bergin's home on May 10, 2022. He said Ms Bergin claimed she did not know what he was talking about when he had asked her about getting such coins.
An uncashed cheque for €2,540 from the President on the occasion of Mr Bergin's 100th birthday was also found as well as receipts 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.
She admitted to gardaí that it was her husband, Séamus, who was in the bed when DSP officials called to her house and the court heard that Ms Bergin 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," she told gardaí. "Nobody told you to stop. It wasn't like the Children's Allowance."
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.
The judge said getting someone into bed to pretend to be her father-in-law was "so bizarre it's farcical" and adjourned sentencing until October 29.