Westmeath Father Loses Job After Using HSE Funds For Home Upgrades

60 year old Brendan Mee has admitted to 13 charges of deception.

A court in Westmeath has heard a father of seven with over 30 years of service with the HSE lost his job after it was discovered he was taking State money to pay for home refurbishments.

60 year old Brendan Mee from Farran Ashe in Mullingar, Westmeath is pleading guilty to 13 counts of deception.

The Irish Independent is reporting Mr Mee stole over €5,000 from the accounts department of ARCS HSE, Delvin Road, in Mullingar over the course of a 20-month period between April 2023 and December 2024.

The money was being used to pay for a raft of home and domestic related improvements belonging to the accused.

Mee was responsible for the generating of purchase orders for various goods and services that would otherwise have been assigned to a department he occupied a senior role in.

He was getting a number of items for his own personal use and getting ARCS to foot the bill for the items.

By the time Mee’s offending was discovered by a senior HSE management official, approximately €5,300 had been identified as having been redirected to pay for items including two fridge freezers, a new lawnmower, heating controls and slates for his home in the midlands town.

Mee went on to also spend over €2,000 on parts and tyres for his own private vehicle with each purchase order being devised to look like the monies were being legitimately spent on behalf of the HSE.

He had no previous convictions prior to the episode and had cooperated fully with the ensuing Garda investigation that followed.

All of the money has since been paid back.

Judge Bernadette Owens remanded Mr Mee on bail and adjourned the case until October 22nd to allow for the preparation of a probationary report.

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