‘Greed got better of me,' says Limerick man who received €13k into account in error

A LIMERICK man who received an accidental lodgement into his bank account of over €13,000 felt like he won the Lotto, Limerick Circuit Court heard.

The accused, who was “in the throes of gambling addiction”, lost €7,500 of it in Paddy Power and spent around €450 in Smyths Toys.

John O’Sullivan, aged 47, of Byrne Avenue, Prospect, Limerick city pleaded guilty to stealing money which was the property of Richardsons Foods, Eastway Business Park, Ballysimon in October 2022.

The prosecuting barrister, also called John O’Sullivan, instructed by State solicitor Padraig Mawe, outlined the evidence with the assistance of Garda Enda Barrett on Friday, July 26.

The barrister said the sum of €13,519.80 was sent in error to the accused’s bank account. The money was mistakenly sent to Mr O’Sullivan, an ex-employee of Richardsons Foods, instead of a supplier with the same name.

The barrister said when the error was discovered, Bank of Ireland was notified but were not able to retrieve the funds.

Matthew Richardson, managing director of the company, called to Mr O’Sullivan’s home in Prospect but he wasn’t there. When he contacted him by phone, Mr O’Sullivan acknowledged receiving the money and had spent it apart from €2,000. This was paid back in December, 2022.

The barrister said there had been 58 cash withdrawals and three purchases from Smyths Toys amounting to approximately €450.

When Mr O’Sullivan was interviewed by gardai he said when he saw his balance he knew he was due some tax back but “I thought that was a lot of tax”.

“Greed got the better of me. I started to gamble at Paddy Power,” he told gardai.

The court heard he lost €7,500 on gambling and spent around €450 on children’s presents.

Mr Richardson said in a victim impact statement that when he contacted Mr O’Sullivan, he said “it was like he won the Lotto”.

“He said I should sack the lady who made the payment error. He knew full well that we are a small business and not some faceless multinational. He went on to display a total disregard for the impact of this substantial financial loss to our business and mental impact on former colleagues. We work on very, very low profit margins,” said Mr Richardson in the statement. 

He outlined that the person who made the error bore a heavy feeling of guilt  and “regrettably left our business by her own choice”.

Amy Nix (pictured above), barrister for Mr O’Sullivan, said her client was never in trouble before and that it was an unusual and exceptional case.

Ms Nix said it felt like a bolt of luck at a dark time as his parents had passed away within four weeks of each other.

“He was in the throes of a gambling addiction. He didn’t keep any of it for himself. He lost most of it. He has a son, aged 12, and lives with his two sisters and their children. He bought presents for the children which shows the gentle nature of the man,” said Ms Nix.

The barrister said Mr O’Sullivan is ashamed, embarrassed, remorseful and can repay €200 a month. The court heard he works as a cleaner.

“He wants to right the wrong. He has not gambled since,” said Ms Nix.

Judge Dermot Sheehan said it is the classic moral choice when somebody finds a large sum of money on the street - do you hand it into gardai so the person gets it back or keep it? He said in Mr O’Sullivan’s case, he spent it on gambling and toys.

The judge said the defendant’s contact with Mr Richardson was “extraordinarily callous”. Judge Sheehan said Mr O’Sullivan could have been paying €200 a month since December 2022 and he would have taken that into account.

He said Mr O’Sullivan “better be here” on Wednesday, July 31 with a substantial sum or he will have no choice but to give him a custodial sentence.

“There is €11,500 due,” said Judge Sheehan.

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When the matter was back before the judge on Wednesday, Ms Nix said a sum of €5,000 had been transferred to Mr Richardson’s account.

“Depending on the bank it can take a few days,” said Ms Nix. She told Judge Sheehan that she had shown a screenshot of the transaction to Garda Barrett and he is happy that the IBAN is correct.

Ms Nix said Mr O’Sullivan is going to work overtime on Sundays and set up a standing order of €50 per week until the balance is cleared.

Judge Sheehan said it was an “usual case” and unfortunate that a man who had never come to garda attention before was before a court at this stage of his life.

He imposed a two-year prison sentence which he suspended in full due to Mr O’Sullivan having no previous convictions, his guilty plea and coming to court with a substantial sum.

Judge Sheehan suspended the jail sentence for four years and ordered he repay €50 a week to Richardsons Foods until the balance of €6,500 is cleared.