68-year-old man pretending to be a lawyer persuaded a Galway woman to buy a mini digger

A man who defrauded nearly 1,200 people after posing as a lawyer and personal insolvency practitioner will be sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court later this year.

David Williams, 68, of Sroughan, Blessington, Co. wicklowPleaded guilty to multiple sample count fraud on dates between January 2019 and June 2020.

He also pleaded guilty to charges of providing legal services while an unqualified person and acting as a personal insolvency practitioner while an unqualified person.

The court heard: Garda National Economic Crime Bureau He began researching a firm called THL Legal, which offers a range of legal services including advice on work permits and family reunifications.

Most of the 1,200 people had paid around €1,500 to the firm, which has Facebook and Twitter accounts and a website promoting itself as a ‘dynamic firm of experienced lawyers’; However, the company was never a law firm.

Charged Crystal Talia, 46, of the same address, pleaded guilty to obstructing the investigation by allowing Williams to use her bank accounts. Williams pleaded guilty to fraud Galway By dishonestly convincing a woman in her 80s to buy a mini excavator for over €7,000.

At yesterday’s hearing, Fionnuala O’Sullivan SC, prosecuting, told the court Williams was not a barrister and had never been a barrister. Lawyers Roll.

The court heard Williams pleaded guilty on the scheduled trial date in July after unsuccessfully trying to cancel the hearing on medical grounds. Detective Garda Keith Gorman told Ms O’Sullivan that Williams had disagreed with the sentencing last week and was therefore brought to court yesterday on a warrant.

Judge Orla Crowe granted bail to Williams and Talia on December 13.