Charity founder’s widow faces €1,500 fine for mishandled accounts.

TLDR:

Key Points:

• Widow of late founder of suicide prevention charity Console fined €1,500 for failing to keep books of account
• Patricia Kelly pleaded guilty and was fined as the State could not prove “willful” failure

In a recent case, Patricia Kelly, the widow of the late founder of the suicide prevention charity Console, was fined €1,500 after pleading guilty to a charge of failing to keep the books of account as a director of the company. The charity was placed in liquidation due to financial irregularities, with significant concerns about how money had been disbursed. It was revealed that Kelly and her husband had issued fraudulent invoices and redirected company payments to personal accounts, totaling €223,000 over a period of nine years.

The State dropped several charges against Kelly after accepting her guilty plea, stating that it was not a “willful” failure and thus she could not be imprisoned for the offense. Despite suspicions of further wrongdoing, the State could not prove the allegations and accepted the plea. Kelly, who has limited means and is living under the cloud of ongoing civil proceedings, was fined €1,500 by Judge Martin Nolan.