Man jailed for banking €800,000 his wife stole from Virgin Media

A Dublin man whose wife stole more than €800,000 from Virgin Media where she worked in payroll has been jailed for money laundering.

John Murray (43), of Kilfenora Road in Kimmage, Dublin, pleaded guilty to three sample counts, representing 10 charges of possessing the proceeds of crime, on dates between January 2009 and July 2019.

He was sentenced to two years in prison after Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that his wife transferred a total of €872,470 to his Bank of Ireland account over the 10-year period.

The court heard that Murray’s wife, Kellie Walton (42), had been employed as payroll administrator for the company formerly known as TV3, apart from two periods of maternity leave.

Over the decade, Walton transferred an average of €80,000 a year to her husband’s account, most of which was spent on foreign holidays, premium TV channels and phone subscriptions.

Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Martin Nolan said Murray should have known at a very early stage that his wife was stealing.

He noted that the couple, who have four children, had squandered all the monies.

When counsel for the defence commented that there was a “tragic quality” to the fact that the couple had been left with nothing, Judge Nolan suggested that it was perhaps more “tragi-comic”.

The court heard that Walton was sentenced in January 2023 to four years in prison, with the final two years suspended.

She has already been released and is working parttime in a barbershop, the court heard.

Garda David Jennings told the prosecution that Murray initially denied the charges and was due to start trial last month, but pleaded guilty on the day of his trial.

Gda Jennings said Walton’s salary as payroll administrator for Virgin Media was “in or around €30,000 a year”.

“She copped a glitch in the system and was able to exploit it,” said Gda Jennings.

Gda Jennings said Walton invented details of someone who was owed money by the company and then regularly transferred money into her husband’s account.

The offending came to light after an employee in Virgin Media’s head office noticed unauthorised payments.

The court heard that €18,000 of the money was transferred to a relative who was completely innocent.

Judge Nolan said Murray was unlikely to re-offend and was currently working and contributing to society.