A Dublin man has been remanded on bail for defrauding four potential tenants by getting deposits for an apartment he did not have permission to rent out. The man identified as Anthony Byrne, had carried out renovation at the apartment to which he had access. He allegedly took €12,000 as deposits by showing interested parties a property that is owned by someone else.
Mr. Byrne started collecting deposits from potential tenants who showed interest in the property after placing an advertisement on daft.ie. He met prospective tenants under the name Stephen Cummings and doctored a contract to use as a lease agreement.
The fraudster successfully took money from four people by posing as a letting agent who works with a reputed company. However, his fifth victim got suspicious of Byrne when she was asked to pay the rent and deposit in cash.
When she contacted the letting agency ‘Cummings’ claimed to be working with, they confirmed he was a fraud and advised her to contact gardai.
Upon seeing the rental agreement the woman had forwarded to the gardai, the letting agents realised the doctored document was of a contract they made with a tenant named Byrne.
A warrant was soon issued to search Byrne’s house and the gardai were able to find the doctored lease agreement and a number of items linking him to ‘Cummings.’
When questioned, the man who has no previous convictions confessed to the crime and said he was going through a low point after his partner lost her job because of Covid and his work hours were impacted by the pandemic.
His counsel said his client had no money available to compensate his victims but has focused his attention on trying to secure employment. The lawyer also handed in a letter of remorse from Byrne.
Judge Melanie Greally remanded Byrne on continuing bail and adjourned the case to Feb. 28, next. She ordered a report from the Probation Service for that date and said she would be “expecting progress on compensation” for the victims.