DJ Carey has been taken into custody for swindling almost €400,000 from multiple victims by pretending he needed money to treat a rare type of cancer.
The former Kilkenny hurler will be sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty to ten charges of deception on various dates between 2014 and 2022.
In 2014, DJ Carey approached prominent businessman, Denis O’Brien, seeking financial assistance for cancer treatment in Seattle and a substantial bank debt.
Mr O’Brien gave him over €125,000 and $13,000 – none of which was repaid.
In his victim impact statement, he said DJ Carey took advantage of his friendship.
He said he believed him and felt embarrassed that he was “completely duped.”
Mr O’Brien is just one of multiple victims that DJ Carey swindled.
Some of them were repaid but a quarter-of-a-million euro is still owed.
DJ Carey told gardai he was in financial trouble at the time and had “fallen into a rut.”
His barrister pleaded for leniency, pointing to what he described as his client’s stunning fall from grace, and the notoriety and shame now attached to his name.
Judge Martin Nolan said a custodial sentence is inevitable.
The five-time All-Ireland winner was then remanded in custody for the first time – he’ll be sentenced on Monday.
Reporting by Frank Greaney
