Gardaí yet to trace €300k of cash stolen by ex-lawyers
Detectives fear couple may have stashed away money they siphoned off from banks in elaborate identity scam, writes Ali Bracken
TWO struck-off solicitors who were jailed last week for siphoning off €400,000 from banks and credit unions appear to be, at first glance, miles away from the kinds of con artists working away at elaborate stings involving fake wigs, bogus driving licences and forged utility bills.
But Det Gda Alan McCarthy, who led the investigation into Keith Flynn and Lyndsey Clarke after a tip-off from bank official Alan Boland, clearly knows otherwise.
Mr Boland, from Bank of Ireland’s financial crime unit, had become suspicious of patterns in certain loan applications in late 2017 — and he identified six potentially bogus accounts that resulted in a loss of €32,000.
“I met Alan Boland about another case, he asked me to look into this,” explains Corkbased Det Gda McCarthy. “This is how it started.”
Soon gardaí made their first break in the case. Some of the bogus accounts were linked to the genuine BoI account of a solicitor named Lyndsey Clarke.
“That gave us a name. A starting point. She was a solicitor, an upstanding person. We were very cautious in our approach,” he said.
“We had to make sure she was the right person.”
Clarke was not a typical suspect for involvement in crime of any sort, but within months gardaí had confirmed this unlikely suspect was actually their woman.
Back in 2014 though, Clarke was making headlines of her own and was an upstanding citizen.
She ran as the Fine Gael candidate in the local elections in Cork, even posing with then taoiseach Enda Kenny and speaking to the local press about the challenges of being a working mother.
Her political ambitions, though, were soon thwarted by the voters: she failed to get elected, securing just 239 first preferences in the north-west ward of Cork city.
Fast forward four years from her brief dabble in politics, and Clarke’s life had taken an entirely different direction.
Gardaí had established she was linked to some of the bogus bank accounts, so they began surveillance of the solicitor in 2018.
The surveillance unit at Cork’s Anglesea Street station began to follow her. These gardaí’s extensive experience in tracking people was called upon to assist as the investigation gathered pace.
Officers soon established she was in a relationship with fellow solicitor Keith Flynn, whom she went on to marry.
This also fitted the bill as gardaí had determined there was a man involved in the fraud.
The investigation then began to snowball as the couple came under suspicion for involvement in dozens of other loans using fake identities at other banks and credit unions.
When Clarke and Flynn visited banks on occasion to apply for fraudulent loans, both always looked the part.
On one occasion, a bank worker recognised that a wig was worn but felt he could not ask for it to be removed because of legal repercussions if it was worn for medical reasons.
“They always presented very well. They were very clever. It was very well thought out and well researched,” said the detective.
Clarke and Flynn donned wigs and costumes while using forged drivers’ licences and passports in a targeted campaign to defraud banks and credit unions of almost €400,000.
The couple created 80 fake bank accounts using 60 fake identities, and even paid homeless people for their PPS numbers to assist their financial thefts.
After carrying out months of surveillance, gardaí were ready to make a move.
There were two properties in Cork where it was suspected the couple were hiding cash and other incriminating evidence linking them to the crimes.
“When we did a search, we had to make sure it was the right property,” said Det Gda McCarthy.
“We knew we only had one opportunity and we couldn’t get it wrong.”
Gardaí did not get it wrong. They secured the keys from the landlord to an apartment rented by the couple in the popular suburb of Sunday’s Well in north Cork city. There they struck gold, seizing a locked safe in a wardrobe.
“They weren’t present. We made contact with them while in the apartment,” said Det Gda McCarthy.
“That evening they presented themselves voluntarily to gardaí and handed over the keys to the safe.”
Inside the safe, gardaí found more than €92,000, 21 fake Irish driving licences, 19 false bank cards and 16 credit union books in different names.
It was July 5, 2018. Neither Clarke nor Flynn was arrested but instead they were interviewed under caution — the first of three separate and lengthy conversations with the investigating officers.
“The first interviews were three hours each. They left the station, knowing the evidence gardaí had against them.”
By the time of their second and third interviews over the following two months, the couple began to confess, ‘making full admissions’.
There were no tears or recriminations by either Clarke or Flynn.
“They were calm. They answered the questions. They knew they were caught. From their legal background, they knew what would lie ahead of them,” said Det Gda McCarthy.
In the safe, gardaí recovered nearly €100,000 of the almost €400,000 stolen by the couple. This, though, leaves €300,000 unaccounted for.
Some was spent on renting properties to provide them with addresses to help in the scam. More still went on their lavish lifestyle.
“They were spending quite a bit to make it work, by renting properties, some of them very expensive properties,” said the detective.
“They went on a number of exotic holidays. They were both also motorbike enthusiasts. They also had some other expensive items in their homes, like kayaks and canoes.”
But Det McCarthy knows this does not account for the vast majority of the missing €300,000.
Gardaí have searched to no avail for more hidden cash, he said, but he believes the couple have somehow stashed money out of reach.
“There is a suspicion they have money hidden ‘offside’. When released, if they stay local in Cork, we’ll keep an eye on their activities.”
Was greed the couple’s sole motivation?
“It was just financial gain. There were no debts.
“There was no reason for it other than financial gain,” said the officer.
He praised the role of his colleagues from the Economic Crime Investigations Unit at Anglesea Street for their key role in the investigation.
“This was a case of two solicitors involved in whitecollar crime,” he said.
“Fraud and financial crime of this manner is becoming more prevalent.
“This was an extensive case and it worked out. It shows that simple mistakes can result in severe consequences and that people from every walk of life can get involved in serious crime.”
Last week Flynn (46) was sentenced to four years behind bars, while his wife Clarke (37) was given a two-year sentence, for their loan scams targeting banks and credit unions.
The pair, both with addresses in Blarney Street, Cork, admitted conspiracy to commit fraud. Both are former solicitors who worked together before being struck off for unrelated reasons.
Does the lead investigator believe it was Clarke or Flynn who masterminded the crime?
“We didn’t learn from talking to them who was the main force,” said the detective.
“They were both complicit. They were both attending the financial institutions in disguises. It was a joint enterprise.”
‘Lyndsey Clarke ran as a Fine Gael candidate in local elections’