Westmeath council chief "erred" in saying €500k fraud case was closed

Westmeath County Council's CEO Barry Kehoe has sought to "correct the record" after saying earlier this year that a Garda investigation into a scam that defrauded the local authority of more than half a million euro had ended.

Mr Kehoe said this month that the probe into the €515,000 fraud was - in fact - continuing.

In February 2024, Westmeath County Council disclosed that it had been the subject of a large-scale payment fraud which resulted in a transfer of €515,000, intended for a legitimate contractor, ending up in a different account.

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.

Updating members of the council's corporate policy group (CPG) at their meeting in April of this year, council CEO Barry Kehoe said Gardai had "closed the case" because the funds "were transferred to a British account, and subsequently removed, and can be traced no further".

However, in a further update this month, Mr Kehoe said he "wished to correct a statement that he made in error at the April CPG meeting" about the case being closed.

Mr Kehoe said he had since "sought further clarification from the Director of Finance who confirmed that the case is not closed".

The local authority's CEO said he wanted this to be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

The update was "noted" by the corporate policy group, according to the meeting's minutes.