Fraud squad to question Catriona Carey over alleged mortgage scam

Ms Carey is expected to be questioned about these allegations in the coming weeks.

This is a completely separate investigation to the probe that led to her arrest yesterday by gardaí investigating alleged breaches of company law.

Ms Carey, who also played camogie for Kilkenny, was arrested at about 7am yesterday by officers from the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) and brought to Carlow garda station for questioning.

She was released without charge after over 12 hours.

The CEA is an independent statutory agency tasked with investigating suspected breaches of company law. The CEA investigation is separate from the ongoing garda probe.

Last year it was revealed how Ms Carey was involved in an alleged mortgage scam in which she received thousands of euro from people in financial distress after promising to help them secure new deals to keep their properties.

She is currently under investigation by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB), which received dozens of complaints from people who paid her between €5,000 and €60,000.

Ms Carey admitted that up to €200,000 deposited into an account by desperate homeowners was instead spent on personal items including lavish holidays, a €55,000 BMW and designer clothing. She insisted the money is now gone and not recoverable. The Central Bank previously issued a warning advising people not to deal with her UK company, Careysfort Asset Estates Ltd, describing it as an “unauthorised firm”.

Ms Carey has been accused of scamming dozens of people after offering to buy debt from their mortgage lenders at a discount once she received deposits. However, the deals she promised never materialised.

Ms Carey also has a previous conviction for fraud. In February 2020 she was before the courts for altering a cheque she received from a client who hired her as his accountant.

Carey changed a cheque for €6,948 that had been made out to Revenue’s collector general, instead making it payable to herself, and cashed it at a bank in Kilkenny.

She received an eight-month suspended sentence.