THREE IRISH MEN have been jailed in Perth, Australia for perpetrating a ‘rooftop repair’ scam that took advantage of elderly people.
John Jason O’Brien (18), Thomas Kiely (19), and Desmond O’Reilly (23) were sentenced for the scam, which saw them climbing onto rooftops, damaging them, and then approaching their victims and offering to ‘fix’ them according to ABC News Australia.
In other instances the men would extract money from their targets and then leave without finishing the job they had agreed to do.
O’Brien was sentenced to 13 months in prison, while Kiely and O’Reilly both received eight-month sentences.
Some of the victims of the con were aged in their 90s.
One resident of he Perth suburb of Floreat was duped out of $22,000 (€15,000).
In some instances the three men even drove their victims to the bank or an ATM to withdraw money.
When Australian police finally raided the men’s home they discovered almost $65,000 (€45,000) in cash.
The three men have been held at a detention centre since.
Sentencing the men, District Court Judge Laurie Levy described the scam as a “sophisticated scheme to defraud and target elderly people”.
He said none of the men were the “driving force” of the scam, as others were also involved.
26 Irish people were deported from Perth at the time of the men’s initial arrest.
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