A man in Donegal fraudulently claimed almost €30,000 in pandemic unemployment payments.
Despite Marcin Karkowski later received €40,000 compensation in relation to a workplace accident that left him unable to work, none of the amount outstanding to the State has been repaid.
A prosecution against Karkowski, a 35-year-old with an address at Lawnsdale, Ballybofey, was taken by the Department of Social Protection at Letterkenny District Court.
The court heard that an overpayment of €29,080 was made to Karkowski between July, 2020 and May, 2022. That sum remains outstanding in its entirety.
Karkowski also received the €40,000 payout in 2023 having sustained a workplace injury in 2019.
A guilty plea was tendered by Karkowski, who was aided in court by an interpreter.
An official from the special investigations unit of the Department of Social Protection outlined the case to the court.
Karkowski submitted an online claim for a Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) on July 31, 2020 and said in his application that this was the last date on which he had worked.
Karkowski was awarded a payment and in July 2021 he confirmed his ongoing eligibility in respect of the PUP. The PUP was a means tested payment for people who lost their employment due to the restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The investigation later established that Karkowski had not been employed since June 2019, several months before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
While Karkowski claimed to have been working at a south Donegal company, the company disclosed to the Department of Social Protection that he was only employed from April, 2019 until June, 2019.
Karkowski had a work-related incident in June, 2019 and did not work thereafter.
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Karkowski – who has no previous convictions – attended for interview and was in the company of his partner and four children. “It wasn’t easy to conduct the interview with them all present,” the inspector said.
While Karkowski was sent two invites to attend for interviews under caution he did not attend these appointments.
The defendant’s solicitor, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said that “unhelpful friends” advised his client that he was entitled to these payments.
Mr Gallagher told the court that his client had a fall and suffered head and back injuries. He said the PUP payments at the centre of the case were obtained “due to desperation to support his family”.
Mr Gallagher acknowledged that because his client was on sick leave and not in employment at the time, he was not entitled to claim the PUP.
The inspector confirmed that Karkowski disclosed the €40,000 payment regarding his injury in an interview.
Mr Gallagher said his client is a 35-year-old man who has been forthright and made “a full and frank disclosure”. As a result of the injury suffered by his client, community service was not an option, he added.
“This is a serious breach,” Judge Emile Daly said. “The Pandemic Unemployment Payment was introduced at a time when the country was in an alert situation and it was needed to deal with people who were out of work.
“He stopped working and made the application over a year after he stopped.”
Judge Daly fined Karkowski €800 in respect of three separate charges. He was fined a total of €2,400 and given six months to pay.
Judge Daly, who had earlier noted that a prison sentence was available as to the court, described the case as “extraordinary”.
She said: “He received €40,000 and at the same time he was defrauding the Social Welfare budget to the tune of €29,000.”