RTÉ Investigates exposes elaborate mortgage scam by former Ireland hockey star
Broadcast Tonight, Monday 14th February at 9.35pm on RTÉ One
A brand-new RTÉ One documentary RTE Investigates -The Accountant, The Con, The Lies exposes a scam involving an Irish businesswoman, Catriona Carey, a former sports star who played hockey for Ireland and camogie for her county.
Tonight, RTÉ Investigates unravels the workings of the fraud, involving lies and excuses at every turn. Using secret recordings of meetings and phone calls, RTÉ Investigates reveals the intricacy of the scheme and speaks to some of those affected who describe both the human and financial impact they have suffered.
In 2019 the effects of the economic and housing crashes were still being felt by tens of thousands of homeowners across the country. Many were in financial difficulty and at risk of losing their family homes.
Catriona Carey trained as an accountant. She is also director and owner of a company called Careysfort Asset Estates Ltd which is registered in England and it was in this capacity she met with people.
Since the financial crash, banks have been selling distressed mortgages to other banks and vulture funds at big discounts to get them off their books. It’s in this climate, that Catriona Carey had a proposition for would-be clients. She told them Careysfort Asset Estates would buy their debt from their lender at a discount.
For example, if a person in mortgage difficulties owed their bank €300,000, Careysfort Asset Estates might buy this debt from the bank for €100,000. The outstanding balance would be written off by the bank as a bad debt. Careysfort Asset Estates would then sell back to the client for the price it paid, in this example, €100,000. It would provide a new loan. With the original debt gone, people would have new mortgages with lower monthly repayments, helping them to stay in their home and Careysfort Asset Estates would make its profit from the interest rate on this new loan.
It seemed a win-win. But Catriona Carey’s company wanted money up front, a deposit – usually between 10% and 30% of the proposed new loan. For many this involved borrowing from family, friends or the credit union. For some, Catriona Carey requested that the deposit be paid in cash, and for others the deposit had to be wired to a Careysfort Asset Estates account in Belgium or Germany.
In 2006 Colin Finnegan who ran a successful haulage business, approached his parents with an offer to buy their home, shop and coal yard. Within a few years however he lost a work contract following the financial crash and unable to meet his repayments repossession was only a matter of time. In 2019, a barrister introduced him, and a number of others, to a Kilkenny businesswoman, Catriona Carey.
“It was my grandfather’s home, it is in the family a hundred years. You don’t like to lose your family home especially to see your parents being put out on the road. That was a massive worry.” – Victim Colin Finnegan.
In late 2020 he and other families got what appeared to be good news from Catriona Carey, who told them business was now concluded with their mortgage companies and they were preparing the contracts for final signing in January 2021.
By the summer of 2021, however, at least 18 months had passed for most since they paid their deposit and people were still waiting for Careysfort Asset Estates to complete the deal with their old mortgage provider and, issue the final contracts. Some clients were still getting letters from the company acting on behalf of their lender to chase the arrears on their mortgages. And all the while Catriona Carey kept insisting the contracts would come, keeping hope alive.
“You kept thinking to yourself maybe things will be OK because you are vulnerable. You are clutching at straws, you are hoping against hope that maybe they are not telling lies, maybe there is something at the end of it”.
Colin then became aware his property had appeared on Bidx1, a property auction site, which includes distressed properties where the loans are in default. Colin immediately raised his concern with Catriona Carey who texted him to say: “Our team put this up as part of our strategy. Please keep this to yourself and we do not want others to know how we work. We have this already bought as explained many times.”
Catriona Carey’s reassurances were in fact a lie. A neighbour had placed a bid on the property and was successful in buying it. The neighbour has reassured the Finnegans that they can stay in their home.
RTÉ Investigates has also learned that Catriona Carey has a conviction under the theft and fraud offences act. She was convicted in February 2020 for theft of €6,948 and for forging a cheque from a Kilkenny hairdresser who had hired her as his accountant. She was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence.
Catriona Carey told RTÉ Investigates that she could not speak about any client due to strict confidentiality clauses. She denied that her company had falsely used the name of a solicitor. She also said her company has funds to cover all client deposits, but was not advised to refund clients at this point.
All those who tell their stories in tonight’s programme have complained to the Gardai about Catriona Carey and Careysfort Asset Estates. RTÉ Investigates also are aware of at least a further ten people who have also reported her to gardai.
Nobody has received their final contracts and Careysfort Asset Estates still has client deposits which, according to the initial agreement, were refundable. People have requested their deposits back but they have not been repaid.
Victim Sharon O’Riordan described the scam as: “Just a dirty rotten thing for any human to do to another. I know there’s lots of bad things happening out there. There’s no need for this to happen. Please God, she won’t get away with doing it to someone else who might not be able to handle the destruction that can follow.”
Victim James*: “It is very hard to think there is people out there that could do something like that to someone that’s in financial distress. I told her on numerous occasions how it was affecting me mentally, the stress and anxiety and she empathizes with me over the phone but behind it all she obviously doesn’t care.”
Victim Miriam Tormey: “I do suffer from depression and they put it under a magnifying glass times 100. That has been hard really, really hard. They treated us like fools and we aren’t. We’re just trying to get our lives back on track. It’s more than money. It’s that it’s our lives.”
Watch: RTÉ Investigates – The Accountant, The Con, The Lies, tonight (Monday) at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.