Four And A Half Years For Bank Manager Who Stole Over €3m

A Bank of Ireland manager who stole over €3 million from his employers in a sort of “Ponzi scheme” has been jailed for four and a half years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

57-year-old William Freeland was employed as a business manager in the Bray branch when he began setting up lending accounts in fake names and taking money from them. He would then open up more accounts to get money to repay the loans taken from previous ones.

A total of €3.38 million was stolen, of which €2.53 million was repaid using money he took from later accounts. The scam went on for five years before he was caught and dismissed.

Nearly €850,000 remains outstanding, including €320,000 in interest and charges. Freeland claims he spent €209,000, or 6 per cent of the total amount, on himself. He went on several family holidays, a number of golf trips and bought a car.

The judge rejected an offer by the defence counsel to use money inherited by Freeland’s wife to partially compensate the bank. The judge said he didn’t think it was appropriate to take his wife’s money and give it to the bank.

The scam was uncovered in early 2010 during an internal review. He was fired in June 2010 and arrested shortly afterwards. He also made full admissions to the Garda.

(H)