A 71-year-old credit union officer took out loans in his son’s name in West Cork but when his son found out he came home from London and made a complaint to gardaí about his father’s crimes. Detective Garda DJ O’Shea gave evidence of the activities of Matthew Heffernan of 5 Vereker Gardens, Ennis Road, Limerick, who pleaded guilty to six counts related to deception at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. Matthew Heffernan had been obtaining loans from Berehaven credit union, Main Street, Castletownbere, on various dates between 2004 and 2009 by deception in the name of Liam Heffernan without his son’s knowledge. Det Garda O’Shea said the first loan obtained by Matthew Heffernan in his son’s name was for €99,000 but this was repaid. As well as the complaint from the defendant’s son, there were concerns in Berehaven credit union about substantial loans to Matthew Heffernan and the matters were referred to the CEO of Irish League of Credit Unions for investigation.

Source: Irish Examiner November 13, 2019 17:23 UTC