Breifne O'Brien is an Irish convicted swindler and former socialite businessman. A major figure in Ireland's

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economy, he has been called "Ireland's

Bernie Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American financial criminal and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest known Ponzi scheme in history, worth an estimated $65 billion. He was at one time ...

". His residences included a lavish family home in

Glenageary Glenageary ( ) is an area on the Southside, Dublin, Southside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. While it has no formal boundary, it is surrounded by the areas of Dalkey, Dún Laoghaire, Glasthule, Johnsto ...

, an apartment on

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is a village in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county southeast of Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became a port in the Middle Ages. According to chronicler John Clyn (c.1286–c.1349), it was one of the port ...

’s Vico Road and a golfing villa in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. He drove an

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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") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

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 in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

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

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

rugby commentator Daire O'Brien. 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