Teenage man arrested under suspicion of making bogus Covid-19 welfare claims in midlands

A young man has been arrested in the midlands under suspicion of making fraudulent social welfare claims for payments intended for those hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Garda statement sayd Gardaí attached to the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB), with assistance from Gardaí on secondment at the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP), arrested a man (aged in his late teens) for the alleged fraudulent claiming of Covid-19 payments.

Gardaí say a search was conducted at a house in Mullingar, Co Westmeath today, Thursday, May 21 on foot of what was described as "intelligence" received from DEASP in relation to suspected fraudulent payments.

It is claimed that the suspect was receiving six separate Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payments into a bank account, in what are believed to be bogus names.

During the search operation, a sum of cash and counterfeit cash was seized. The man was arrested at the scene and taken to Mullingar Garda Station where he is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

Gardaí say investigations are continuing.