Breifne O'Brien is a convicted swindler and former Irish socialite businessman. A major figure in Ireland's Celtic Tiger economy, he has been called "Ireland's

Bernie Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American fraudster and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDA ...

". His residences included a lavish family home in

Glenageary Glenageary ( ga, Gleann na gCaorach , meaning "Glen of the Sheep") is an area in the suburbs of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. While there is no officially defined boundary, it is surrounded by the areas of Dalkey, Dún Laoghaire, Glasthule ...

, an apartment on

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is an affluent suburb of Dublin, and a seaside resort southeast of the city, and the town of Dún Laoghaire, in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in the historic County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement ...

’s Vico Road and a golfing villa in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

. He drove an

Aston Martin DB7 The Aston Martin DB7 is a grand tourer which was produced by British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin from September 1994 to December 2004. The car was available either as a coupé or a convertible. The prototype was complete by Novem ...

and had close to 100 bank accounts. After admitting in 2008 to his investors—many of whom were close friends—that he had stolen millions of Euros of their money to fund a lavish lifestyle and could not pay it back, he was investigated by the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

Fraud Squad. It was reported that he referred to his investors as "suckers". His mother put up his bail to get him out of jail and he was put on trial for fraud. He pleaded guilty to a sample of charges brought against him involving sums totalling more than ten million euros. On 8 October 2014, O'Brien was sentenced to seven years in prison. O'Brien appealed the sentence; the Court of Appeal denied the appeal in December 2015. In July 2016, the High Court adjudicated O'Brien as bankrupt. O'Brien was released on parole from prison in May 2018, having served approximately half of his prison sentence; he will be returned to prison if he comes to the attention of authorities. His family home is

Carrigrohane Castle Carrigrohane Castle is located in the village of Carrigrohane, barony of Barretts in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated on a rocky cliff-edge which overlooks the River Lee. History The castle's original construction is attributed to the Ma ...

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland. His father Leo was a businessman and his younger brother is

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

rugby commentator

Daire O'Brien Daire O'Brien is an Irish broadcaster and journalist. He is best known for being the presenter and anchorman of RTÉ Sport's coverage of the Pro14 rugby union competition, and has been with RTÉ since 2010. Before this he presented for Setanta ...

. He was married to Fiona Nagle who divorced him after his fraud came to light, and he was renowned for hosting lavish parties at his home.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Businesspeople from County Cork Financial scandals Irish fraudsters Irish money managers Irish socialites Pyramid and Ponzi schemes {{Ireland-bio-stub