DJ Carey pleads guilty to defrauding people over cancer treatment claims
DJ Carey
has pleaded guilty to defrauding people out of money by claiming he needed to fund treatment for cancer he didn't have.
The nine-time All-Star hurler, who won five All-Ireland senior titles for Kilkenny, stood in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court with his hands clasped in front of him and pleaded guilty to 10 of the 21 charges he was facing.
Wearing a dark suit, blue shirt and patterned dark tie, Carey (54) showed no emotion as Ms Justice Patricia Ryan was told by Dominic McGinn SC that the State was asking for a nolle prosequi in relation to another charge and that the other charges be taken into consideration.
Colman Cody SC, for Carey, said his client had undergone heart surgery last year, was under continuing care for a 'genuine' heart condition, and that there were also mental health issues. A sentencing hearing, he said, might take some time.
READ MORE
Ms Justice Ryan set the sentencing hearing for October 29th next and remanded Carey on continuing bail.
Among the charges to which Carey has pleaded guilty is that he did, dishonestly and by deception, induce the businessman Denis O'Brien to give him money to pay for cancer treatment on unknown dates between January 2014 and September 2022, contrary to the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.
The other charges refer to other targets of Carey's deception, most in dates in 2021 and 2022. The total amount involved was not disclosed in court.
Carey is regarded as one of the greatest hurlers to have played the game. He captained the county to Liam MacCarthy Cup success in 2003, while also being part of the victorious teams in 1992, 1993, 2000 and 2002.
He was named Hurler of the Year in 2000. Since retiring from the sport, he has managed the Kilkenny U21 hurlers and was a selector for the county senior team.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Mother dies 11 days after being hit by car
A mother has died in hospital 11 days after suffering serious injuries when she parked her car on a steep hill, only for it to roll backwards and hit her. Denise Morey, of Kilmore Road in Knocknaheeny in Cork city, died at Cork University Hospital (CUH) on Friday. The 60-year-old had been treated since June 23rd in the intensive care unit at the hospital, where she had been taken following the accident on Pophams Road in Farranaree on the northside of the city. Emergency services and gardaí responded after they received reports that a woman had been struck by a car that had unexpectedly moved. The road was closed to facilitate an examination by forensic collision investigators. READ MORE Mrs Morey is survived by her husband Bill, extended family and friends. She will lie in repose at Coughlan's Funeral Home in Shandon Street in Cork on Tuesday from 10am. A requiem Mass will take place on Wednesday at 11am in St Mary's on the Hill Church in Knocknaheeny.
Sunday World
4 hours ago
- Sunday World
Disgraced hurler DJ Carey had ‘begging letter templates' he would send to cancer scam victims
Ex-GAA star targeted people he thought had money to scam them out of thousands The person described Carey as an 'emotional terrorist' who targeted them and a group of their friends in a bid to lure others into his scam to get money over his fake cancer yarn. This individual was due to be called as one of the state's 34 witnesses in the case against the legendary Kilkenny hurler over deceiving a string of people out of money before he this week pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 10 charges related to defrauding people who believed he had cancer. Today they unveil how the one-time sporting ace, who won five All-Ireland titles and is a former All Star and Kilkenny captain, caught people in his trap. Anonymous 'The investigating officers told us that, from half five in the morning until two o'clock the next night, he was busy with emails – he had three templates,' explains the person, who says they want to remain anonymous because they are fearful of him. DJ Carey in his playing days for Kilkenny 'Basically they were letters looking for help. He had one [relating to] Revenue, and he would send them to people in business who had issues with Revenue and they would be sympathetic. 'He had one related to the banks, saying 'the banks were at him' and they needed this help, and that was for people who he knew had issues with the banks. 'Then he had the one about cancer and sympathy. He sent that out to people who he knew either had cancer themselves or were bereaved because of cancer. He was sending them out to everybody.' The witness said they believe a lot of high-profile people were targeted by Carey. 'The police said it was literally a 'who's who' of Irish celebrities from the 1990s and 2000. He just randomly messaged everybody. He'd find their details or meet them at events,' they explain. 'We heard him one time on the phone to Mick McCarthy, and another time he said he was going to see Daniel O'Donnell in Donegal, whether he tried to bum money off him too, who knows. 'He'd keep in with GAA clubs, ministers, even lower level people so they'd feel starstruck with the big famous guy and so they'd be spilling the beans to him. He'd ring people gossiping all the time, looking for information on wealthy people or whoever.' The witness recalls how she first met the 54-year-old several years ago when they and a group of friends were approached by him in a shop in Kilkenny City while they were buying coffee. Started 'He just started talking to us and the second sentence was, 'I have terminal cancer',' they said. 'We would have recognised him from school, as we would have got a day off because of the All-Ireland, but we had never actually met him. He's a good bit older than all of us. 'I wasn't starstruck, the lads maybe, and he really milked that completely.' But having never seen him before Carey started turning up elsewhere. 'Almost the other same week the other group of our friends were in a restaurant, and he just sat there and made conversation and said the exact same thing,' they maintain. 'We found out later that he had been asking about us months before we actually met us. Him meeting us was not an accident, he researches people and does this to everyone.' The witness names a cancer victim whom Carey stung for €5000, but who managed to get it back off him. 'We would have had a few charity fundraisers in the town and he just did a bit of googling, and whoever was in the papers.' The witness also reveals how his story – about what he told them was his cancer journey – included dealing with a specialist in a Seattle hospital. 'The actual story of how he got 'cancer' is amazing,' Former Kilkenny hurler DJ Carey Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 6th 'He maintained he had a number of aneurisms around 2011, he said he was brought into a Dublin hospital for a treatment for a brain aneurism and he said some foreign doctor made a mistake and gave his radium therapy, which you wouldn't do. 'He said not only did they make a mistake with the treatment but they gave him too much. 'He said he got a blood cancer called multiple myeloma from this radium thing.' They say that Carey then claimed he got his 'good friend Denis O'Brien' to engage with a solicitor to help him (Mr O'Brien was listed in court this week as one of Carey's 13 named victims he scammed out of money). 'Denis O'Brien doesn't know him from a hole in the wall, but he said Denis gave him a solicitor and he said they sued James' hospital and he got over €1 million in compensation,' they point out. 'When we met him [he claimed] the prognosis was very bad and he had eight months to live. He was such a good actor, even putting on a croaky voice. 'Then he said he went off to a faith healer and got 'better'. Then he got 'sick' again.' The witness says they lost some money through her dealings with Carey through a different issue, but managed to get it back. 'I think he thought we had loads of money because we did a load of charity stuff and had a lot of connections. We do a lot of stuff with sick children. 'It's very weird, it wouldn't ask for money directly. He'd say he had 'issues with Revenue' and the payment was coming soon having won this litigation with the bank, so what he was always doing was looking for money in lieu of this big payment coming 'For us he never asked us for any money for treatment, but he used us to spread the story he was sick. We are different type of victims. 'We would have introduced him to an awful lot of people. 'He was known for following people around, get to know what they were doing. 'He would find out people's Achilles heels and use it against them. He would turn up everywhere.' The witness and their group were eventually contacted by gardai. Uncomfortable 'The police said 'the only thing we can tell you that all he was trying to do was buy time because it made him look like he was legitimate and accompanying nice people',' they disclose. The witness says gardaí said they had never came across anyone like Carey. 'When they had him for 48 hours, that he sat down and he did not move,' they stress. 'He didn't speak and he had no comment, and wasn't a bit uncomfortable and didn't flinch, They have to give toilet breaks, so he'd just get up for them. 'They said he would never reply, not even 'no comment'. They got exacerbated that he was so steely and psychologically not perturbed. They said they actually gave us and they'd never had anybody in custody like that. 'What they said to us and others was they believe it was a psychological disorder and most likely psychopathy.' A spokesperson for Denis O'Brien told the Sunday World the businessman had 'no comment' to make about DJ Carey.
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Gardai probe bomb found at Russian-owned refinery in Limerick
Gardaí are investigating the discovery of a 'viable' bomb near a Russian-owned refinery in Co Limerick. The device was found on Friday afternoon, attached to a fuel tank that services the Aughinish Alumina refinery sports and social club building located close to the Shannon-estuary towns of Foynes and Askeaton. A spokesman for the Irish Defence Forces confirmed the bomb was viable, meaning it was capable of detonating and causing injuries or death. The device is believed to have included a battery-timed mechanism so that it could be detonated long after the perpetrators had left the area. READ MORE It is understood that up to 100 staff at the Rusal-owned facility were unable to leave while a 350-metre security cordon was in place at the scene for several hours between Friday night and Saturday morning. A garda spokeswoman said local gardaí were alerted after a 'suspect device' was discovered 'at a premises near Foynes, at approximately 3.30pm, Friday, and a cordon was established'. A statement provided by the Defence Forces said: 'On Friday evening, bomb experts from the Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team responded to a request for assistance from An Garda Síochána in relation to a suspect device in the area of Askeaton, Co. Limerick. 'Following an assessment, the EOD team confirmed the device was viable, and it was rendered safe. The EOD Team then handed the scene over to AGS.' The army EOD unit was on scene for a total of six hours, from its arrival at 6.58pm on Friday to just after 1am on Saturday. Security sources said CCTV will play a central role in the ongoing investigation into who was behind the bomb threat. The area around and inside the alumina refinery is heavily populated with security cameras, and gardaí hope to secure footage that may assist them in tracking and apprehending those behind the bomb. A garda spokeswoman confirmed on Sunday that the scene had been declared safe. The area where the bomb was found was located close to a publicly accessible nature walking trail. Following an assessment, the EOD team confirmed the device was viable, and it was rendered safe A source said investigating gardaí were examining one of many lines of inquiry, including the possibility that the bomb may have been in response to Russian missile attacks in Kyiv on Thursday night. While the Aughinish Alumina plant has no direct link to Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, it is owned by Russian aluminium giant Rusal, and one of its significant shareholders is Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska . Mr Deripaska was previously hit with UK government sanctions including a full asset freeze and travel ban in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, the Irish government has refused to support any potential sanctioning of Rusal's Askeaton plant. The Kremlin stated in April 2024 that UK and US sanctions imposed on Russian metals would have no impact on its ability to supply aluminium to world markets, and would only serve to hurt countries imposing sanctions. In February 2022, gardaí launched an investigation into criminal damage at the entrance to Aughinish Alumina which was daubed with slogans in red paint, similar in nature to protests at Russian embassies around the world. Aughinish Alumina, which employs 450 people at the Askeaton refinery, has been contacted for comment.
