Fraudster Catherine O’Brien facing jail, with Ann Murphy

The name Catherine O’Brien is a familiar one to regular followers
of the Irish Examiner – in this first episode of The Deirdre
O’Shaughnessy Podcast, reporter Ann Murphy brings listeners up to
date on the latest in this complex story of fraud and deception.


The subject of a 2022 podcast series by the Irish Examiner,
Catherine the Fake, Catherine O’Brien has been sought by Gardai
since 2019 when she failed to show up in court as a witness for
the State in a case of demanding money with menaces.


Reporting of that case led to the gradual unravelling of the
Buttevant woman’s story, as person after person came forward to
the Irish Examiner with stories of being deceived or defrauded by
O’Brien.


The 2022 podcast series Catherine the Fake investigated claims
that O’Brien had convinced many people to invest in different
business ventures over the years, causing losses in the millions
of euro. She falsely claimed she had bought a pub in Clare; told
acquaintances she worked as an agent for an Arab prince buying
large properties in Tipperary; and pretended to be a solicitor
who could ‘sort’ speeding fines for a man she met on a dating
site.


She was finally arrested in June 2024 and in July, O’Brien was
convicted of three charges of deception after meeting Dubliner
John Blake on Plenty of Fish and convincing him to invest €22,000
in racehorses.


Listen to episode one of The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast
featuring Ann Murphy now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.


 


LINKS


Catherine O’Brien found guilty of deception charges


Listen back to the 2022 Catherine the Fake podcast series
Catherine the Fake podcast: The story of florist turned fraudster
Catherine O’Brien


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.