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Bank manager jailed for €450k theft over 19 years

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    #2
    smash
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34,809 ✭✭✭✭smash


    dd972 wrote: »
    a bit harsh on this poor fellow, he's sounds like boardroom material for his profession.
    You read the article right?

    A bank manager has been jailed for four years after he stole nearly €450,000 from customers to pay off a €3m debt he had run up from failed property investments.


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    #3
    coffee_cake
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Politics Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 81,310 CMod ✭✭✭✭coffee_cake


    Lost his pension also

    That should keep AH happy


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    #4
    EDDIE WATERS
    Registered Users Posts: 853 ✭✭✭EDDIE WATERS


    So all he got was 4 years not 19


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    #5
    lkionm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,407 ✭✭✭lkionm




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    #6
    squod
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,704 ✭✭✭squod


    Weren't Judges moaning about something or other during the week?
    Judge Nolan accepted that for a man such as Mitchell, prison would be difficult but said he must impose a somewhat harsh term "for general deterrence and punishment

    This is unreasonable. Multiple counts of theft, a career criminal, huge amounts of cash, exploiting a trusted position etc. What the actual fuhk is going on in our courts??


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    #7
    maithanfear
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 47 ✭maithanfear


    seems fair enough. its not like he walked into the bank with a shotgun


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    #8
    squod
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,704 ✭✭✭squod


    maithanfear wrote: »
    seems fair enough. its not like he walked into the bank with a shotgun

    He didn't have to! He was robbing the place from inside.


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    #9
    Muckie
    Registered Users Posts: 1,763 ✭✭✭Muckie


    Thing is he won't do 4 years, plus his really, really sorry now.


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    #10
    maithanfear
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 47 ✭maithanfear


    squod wrote: »
    He didn't have to! He was robbing the place from inside.

    Would of it made a difference if he had stolen 4,000 euro as opposed to 400,000? Nobody was hurt here.


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    #11
    Anyone
    Registered Users Posts: 3,376 ✭✭✭Anyone


    maithanfear wrote: »
    Would of it made a difference if he had stolen 4,000 euro as opposed to 400,000? Nobody was hurt here.

    So theft is ok as long as someone doednt get hurt? 4 years seems about right imo. They should attempt to recover the money he stole also.


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    #12
    Peetrik
    Registered Users Posts: 1,674 ✭✭✭Peetrik


    I love how this bank manager keeps his own money in the credit union. Speaks volumes


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    #13
    HondaSami
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,713 ✭✭✭HondaSami


    Anyone wrote: »
    So theft is ok as long as someone doednt get hurt? 4 years seems about right imo. They should attempt to recover the money he stole also.

    The bank compensated the people involved, He has given his pension to the bank. I'm sure the money is long gone and not recoverable.
    He is doing time for his sins, what more can he do?


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    #14
    Anyone
    Registered Users Posts: 3,376 ✭✭✭Anyone


    HondaSami wrote: »
    The bank compensated the people involved, He has given his pension to the bank. I'm sure the money is long gone and not recoverable.
    He is doing time for his sins, what more can he do?

    Missed the amount that was in the pension. So yeah, seems fair what he got.

    My point was that just because people don't get physically hurt, shouldn't mean a light sentence.


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    #15
    maithanfear
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 47 ✭maithanfear


    Anyone wrote: »
    Missed the amount that was in the pension. So yeah, seems fair what he got.

    My point was that just because people don't get physically hurt, shouldn't mean a light sentence.

    then why is armed robbery such a serious offence even if a robber only escapes with 50 euro?


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    #16
    Anyone
    Registered Users Posts: 3,376 ✭✭✭Anyone


    maithanfear wrote: »
    then why is armed robbery such a serious offence even if a robber only escapes with 50 euro?

    Because if you are armed there is an intent to injure/kill others.

    Anyway, thats not my point. I disagree with the whole attitude in this country to white collar crime "ahh sure nobody was hurt".


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    #17
    P. Breathnach
    Registered Users Posts: 12,089 ✭✭✭✭P. Breathnach


    maithanfear wrote: »
    then why is armed robbery such a serious offence even if a robber only escapes with 50 euro?
    I'd be far more distressed by being threatened with a weapon than I would if I had an amount of money taken from me.


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    #18
    maithanfear
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 47 ✭maithanfear


    P. Breathnach wrote: »
    I'd be far more distressed by being threatened with a weapon than I would if I had an amount of money taken from me.

    I would feel different, especially if we're talking 400 k.


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    #19
    Amirani
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,521 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


    maithanfear wrote: »
    then why is armed robbery such a serious offence even if a robber only escapes with 50 euro?

    Do you really have to ask that? There's a word in your question that wasn't involved in the bank manager's case that completely changes things. Can you guess which one it is?


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    #20
    Amirani
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,521 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


    maithanfear wrote: »
    I would feel different, especially if we're talking 400 k.

    Nobody had that amount of money taken from them. Anybody who did have any money taken from them was refunded. The only party to lose out in this case is the bank.


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    #21
    dd972
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,563 ✭✭✭dd972


    smash wrote: »
    You read the article right?

    A bank manager has been jailed for four years after he stole nearly €450,000 from customers to pay off a €3m debt he had run up from failed property investments.

    Think you might have had a sarcasm bypass operation bruv


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    #22
    Death and Taxes
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,775 ✭✭✭Death and Taxes


    Anyone wrote: »
    Missed the amount that was in the pension. So yeah, seems fair what he got.

    My point was that just because people don't get physically hurt, shouldn't mean a light sentence.
    Actually it should, prison should be , by and large, reserved for violent offenders.


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    #23
    KyussBishop
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,797 ✭✭✭KyussBishop


    WileyCoyote wrote: »
    Actually it should, prison should be , by and large, reserved for violent offenders.
    Absolutely not; fraud like this, should be treated far more harshly than it is currently, and I'd have liked to see this guy get a much longer sentence than he did.

    Fraud is not a victimless crime, and it has played a contributory part in our current economic crisis, which is having hugely damaging effects on our society right now; one case of fraud like this, can be absorbed easily enough, but if fraud becomes systemic as it had/has in some financial institutions both here and throughout the world, it can cause enormous damage to entire economies (which, as we are experiencing now, can be significantly harmful to people and their finances, in those economies).

    Due to the insidious deceptive nature of fraud, the means by which it becomes institutionalized/normalized over time by the "shure nobody got harmed" flawed line of thinking (and how difficult it may be to detect properly), the economic damage it can cause, and the undue/unearned economic (and thus political) power it can grant these criminals, it must be treated far more severely and harshly than a guy robbing a bank teller with a shotgun, because of how fraud often leads to vastly higher scaled monetary/societal damages.


    Due to the attitudes towards fraud in this country (tax fraud in particular), and the light-touch approach of government to regulation (leaving many activities that should be fraudulent, legal), it's my impression that fraud and a lax attitude to ethics in business/finance, is quite widespread in this country.

    It is imperative that this is cracked down on, and people given extremely harsh jail terms as a deterrence, in order to change societal attitudes on this issue, and provide appropriate punishment.

    Leaving this kind of stuff unpunished, or not treated severely enough, creates a two-tier justice system, where those who gain riches through fraud are immune or less-affected by the law (and gain greater legal power through financial means), than everyone else in society; because of this, and the political power this can grant them (through significant economic means), it is essential to crack down on.


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    #24
    Amirani
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,521 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


    Prison is completely pointless in a case like this and would serve no purpose. Prison should only be used to protect the general public from violent offenders.

    Why not have him make some positive contribution to society to the value of 450k+? 4 years of community service would be better for everyone than 4 years of prison.


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    #25
    squod
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,704 ✭✭✭squod


    It's crazy and somewhat scary that this lad only got a few years. In the grand scheme of things career criminals could easily balance out a few years for the risk if the risk was worth taking.

    In my mind the judge was essentially condoning 19 years of crime. That's what the lad probably expected, that was the risk he chose to take.


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    #26
    KyussBishop
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,797 ✭✭✭KyussBishop


    NiallSparky wrote: »
    Prison is completely pointless in a case like this and would serve no purpose. Prison should only be used to protect the general public from violent offenders.

    Why not have him make some positive contribution to society to the value of 450k+? 4 years of community service would be better for everyone than 4 years of prison.
    Prison is the method by which everyone else is punished, including people not paying their TV License and such; due to the ease with which gains from fraud can be hidden, a simple fine and community service is not enough.

    Prison is not just about protecting the public from physical violence, it is there to restrict peoples liberty as punishment; it is largely a different discussion too, as in almost any other thread, if someone went to prison for breaking the law (for whatever reason), the general response would be "the law's the law".


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    #27
    Amirani
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,521 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


    KyussBishop wrote: »
    Prison is the method by which everyone else is punished, including people not paying their TV License and such; due to the ease with which gains from fraud can be hidden, a simple fine and community service is not enough.

    Prison is not just about protecting the public from physical violence, it is there to restrict peoples liberty as punishment; it is largely a different discussion too, as in almost any other thread, if someone went to prison for breaking the law (for whatever reason), the general response would be "the law's the law".

    It probably is more suited to a different thread. I don't believe restricting liberty is a good punishment except when the offender is dangerous, it's not productive whatsoever.

    I do agree that there should be tough sentences for fraud though, just not prison terms.


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    #28
    KyussBishop
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,797 ✭✭✭KyussBishop


    NiallSparky wrote: »
    It probably is more suited to a different thread. I don't believe restricting liberty is a good punishment except when the offender is dangerous, it's not productive whatsoever.

    I do agree that there should be tough sentences for fraud though, just not prison terms.
    Ya agreed; while off topic, I find interesting some alternatives such as this, as a replacement for prisons:
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/feb/25/norwegian-prison-inmates-treated-like-people


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    #29
    JJJJNR
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,791 ✭✭✭JJJJNR


    Prob go to cloverhill and then an open prison, no more bills for this guy, he'll be back on the golf course in 12 months.


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    #30
    nlgbbbblth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,668 ✭✭✭nlgbbbblth


    maithanfear wrote: »
    then why is armed robbery such a serious offence even if a robber only escapes with 50 euro?

    The key is in the word "armed".

    Have you ever been in situation where somebody has a gun pointed at you and says "give me the f*cking money. NOW!"?

    It's not pleasant.

    Violent crime has a serious effect on the victims. Embezzlement much less so.


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    #31
    Chuck Stone
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,030 ✭✭✭✭Chuck Stone


    bluewolf wrote: »
    Lost his pension also

    That should keep AH happy

    Him and his ilk should be destitute.


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