A Co Fermanagh man convicted in the United States of scamming millions of dollars from pensioners over fraudulent construction work was previously convicted of attempted fraud in his native county.
Brothers Patrick McDonagh (35) and Matthew McDonagh (34), from Irvinestown, were both sentenced to 18 months in prison in the US after admitting posing as home repair workers and defrauding older residents.
One homeowner in Bellevue, Washington lost around $673,000 (£537,000) to the scheme.
Matthew, the younger of the Co Fermanagh fraudsters, had previously pleaded guilty to attempted fraud by false representation in Northern Ireland and was given community service and a probation order for an offence committed in 2019.
McDonagh, with an address of Hudson Heights in Irvinestown, had been charged with a number of other offences which he pleaded not guilty to, including blackmail. These charges were left “on the books”.
The charges were brought in relation to an alleged blackmail in which a victim was asked to provide money for plant machinery which was stolen from him in Co Fermanagh.
In a 2019 hearing, the Belfast High Court heard the victim in the case was conned into leaving €13,000 at an Ederney graveyard in exchange for having his stolen equipment returned.
The victim in the case later blocked the number of a man who had made another request for €30,000 to be paid after he had made two previous payments, before reporting the incidents to the PSNI.
McDonagh initially denied all of the charges put to him, including two charges of fraud by false representation and one charge of blackmail. Those charges were left on the books as he pleaded to a lesser charge of attempted fraud by false representation.
The two brothers will spend 18 months in a US prison and are expected to be deported back to Ireland when their sentences are completed.
They were arrested by US Customs and Border Protection in June and were charged in July. They pleaded guilty in September 2024. At the sentencing hearings U.S. District Judge John H. Chun called their actions, “terrible and serious criminal conduct.”
According to records filed in the case, the brothers were part of a group that travelled the country scamming elderly homeowners by falsely representing that homes needed urgent repairs.
The defendants have agreed to make restitution to the victims in the case, including one victim in Bellevue, Washington who was scammed out of $673,000.
Another victim from Shoreline, Washington, was defrauded of $435,000 and told the court at the brothers’ sentencing hearing: “They were aggressive, relentless in their pursuit of more and more money. They preyed on my trust and my faith…. I feel ashamed, frustrated, and betrayed and now I don’t trust others.”
Speaking to the BBC following the conclusion of the case, the Shoreline victim’s daughter criticised the 18 month sentences as a “slap on the wrist” and that they “got away with it”.
She said she was “not holding her breath” over restitution money being paid once they are deported and questioned whether their remorse is real.
“I have a hard time believing they are truly genuinely sorry, because this has been a lifestyle of choice for both of them.”
