A man who used a false name to apply for social welfare has been fined €1,500.
Pavel Castravet of 154 Greenpark Meadows, Mullingar caught the attention of staff at the social welfare office in Mullingar who believed he was making the claim in May last year using a PPS number obtained with a false passport.
Garda Alan Kenny said that when he spoke to the 30-year-old Moldovan he immediately admitted possession of the false passport and obtaining the false PPS number. He got no benefit from the card.
Mr Louis Kiernan said the father of two had been working in the country for four years. He arrived with a valid work permit in 2002 but when it ran out, it wasn’t renewed.
In 2004 he made the wrong decision to get a PPS number which he shouldn’t have gotten and continued to work ‘validly’ between 2004 and 2008, paying tax, and PRSI.
When he lost his job, he realised he had paid all his contributions under the false name of Pavel Castaravel so he made the social welfare application under that name.
The card was issued and subsequently checked and the fraud immediately detected.
Mr Castravet’s wife has full status in the country, the court heard and the couple are now living on her Jobseeker’s allowance.
The Department of Justice is aware of Mr Castravet’s case and his own status in the country is now “under review”.
For having a false welfare card in a false name, Judge Neilan imposed a fine of €750 and imposed a similar fine for the false Lithuanian passport.
