Man faces prison for benefit fraud

A BENCH warrant has been issued for the arrest of a Galway man who was convicted of defrauding the State of job seekers allowance  at Limerick District Court last week. Joseph Hallinan, with an address at 12 Kirwan’s Court, Galway and formerly of Dooradoyle had been claiming job seekers allowance from March 20, 2007 to May 31, 2011. He was employed by Dell between August 2007 and February 2008 but still claimed the benefits he was not entitled to.

Inspectors from the department of social protection said that Mr Hallinan had made four claims on September 11, October 9 and November 6, 2007 and January 21, 2008 without declaring he was working in Dell at the time.
The overpayments totaled €4,713 and Mr Hallinan agreed to repay €50 per week to settle the claim but he failed to made the repayments.
Convicting the defendant in his absence, Judge O’Kelly issued a bench warrant to have him brought to court for a prison sentence to be imposed.