'Case closed' on €515k Westmeath County Council fraud as funds can't be traced

The perpetrators of a scam which defrauded Westmeath County Council of more than half a million euro look set to evade justice, as a Garda investigation into the case concluded that the money cannot be traced.

In February of last year, the local authority disclosed that it had been the subject of a payment fraud amounting to around €515,000.

The council said the fraud was initiated by a third party, and that as soon as it became aware of the matter it contacted An Garda Síochána and engaged the services of specialist advisers.

"The issue is currently under investigation by An Garda Síochána and the council is cooperating fully with that investigation," the council said in February 2024.

In recent weeks, however, it emerged that the investigation into the matter has not borne fruit.

A meeting of a council corporate policy group was informed by Westmeath County Council's chief executive, Barry Kehoe, that: "An Gardai Siochana have closed the case, as the funds were transferred to a British account, and subsequently removed, and can be traced no further."

The closure of the investigation was "noted" by the corporate policy group, according to the minutes of its meeting.

Last year it was reported that the fraud involved the council receiving a fake – but convincing – notification that one of its suppliers had changed bank, and asking for the firm's payment details to be updated.

As a result, when a legitimate invoice from that firm was submitted, payment was made to the fake account. The payment is understood to have been made in the middle of January of this year.

The discovery was made when the supplier queried why payment of the invoice had not materialised.

Despite the huge sum of money involved, the local authority said last July that it was not "out of pocket" as a result of the scam.

The council said its insurance firm had compensated it for the majority of the money that was lost, while the remainder of the loss was being shouldered by the contractor that had been the intended recipient of the transferred funds.

Earlier this year, the council's director of finance, Michael Hand, said it had changed a number of its procedures in order to minimise the risk of a similar fraud happening again.

"Nobody wants to be back in that space," Mr Hand told a monthly meeting of the council in March.