Wednesday 30 July 2014 16.14 Businessman Breifne O'Brien used money advanced to him by friends and acquaintances for investment in property and businesses to buy properties for himself, extend his house and buy a car for his wife, the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has been told.
O'Brien also used money given to him for investment to pay back others, something which was "absolutely quintessentially characteristic of a Ponzi scheme" the court heard.
O'Brien, who is 52 and lives in Monkstown in Co Dublin, has pleaded guilty to 14 sample counts of deception and theft involving sums totalling around €11 million between 2003 and 2008.
He dishonestly induced five people to advance millions of euro to him to invest in bogus property deals in Manchester, Paris and Hamburg.
He also got them to invest money in a bogus linen shipping insurance scheme.
The court is hearing evidence before sentencing the businessman.
Detective Sergeant Martin Griffin, who was in charge of the Garda investigation into the crimes, said the investigation had begun after Commercial Court judge, Mr Justice Peter Kelly referred the matter to the fraud squad in 2008.
Prosecuting counsel, Luán Ó Braonáin outlined how the five men O'Brien had deceived were old friends or people who had been introduced to him by family friends.
One of the victims, Louis Dowley, knew O'Brien for 25 years as his wife had been in Trinity College with him.
The court heard O'Brien had 83 different bank accounts with six different financial institutions, although only eight bank accounts featured in the charges before the court.
The court heard he had been involved in a laundry and taxi cab business. His father was involved in business in Cork and his sister's husband was a very successful businessman.
Det Sgt Griffin agreed that the way O'Brien operated was to ask people for money in relation to an alleged investment.
He would assure them that he would retain the money in his deposit account and use it to allow him to get an option on a deal.
However the money was not kept in his deposit account. It was used to pay others in a manner described by Mr Ó Braonáin as being absolutely characteristic of a Ponzi scheme.
It was also used to pay stamp duty on properties, an extension to his home and an Audi Q7 car for his wife as well as other transactions the court heard.
Det Sgt Griffin agreed that €1m given to O'Brien in July 2006 by Mr Dowley, for an investment allegedly relating to a linen shipping insurance scheme, was dissipated within two days.
He told the court that within two days the €1m was as good as gone.
O'Brien used €61,000 of this money to buy an Audi Q7 car for his wife.
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