Convicted fraudster apologises to young farmers he owes money to

A man with several fraud-related convictions has apologised to people still waiting for money they paid to him to be returned in his latest business venture.

A mother from the South-East contacted the Kilkenny People after her son paid over €2,565 to Niall Minogue from Kilkenny of Agriglobal People as ‘proof of funds’ in October and was told that the money would be repaid in full by November 16.

In December €1,000 was repaid and a further €1,000 was repaid on January 11 and then the final €565 was repaid just last Wednesday — the same day Mr Minogue was featured on Joe Duffy’s Liveline, after numerous contacts were made by the young man’s family.

Niall Minogue now operates Agriglobal People, which is aimed at young farmers seeking work abroad, and according to Mr Minogue there are over 100 people working globally.

Mr Minogue told the Kilkenny People that the person in question has been reimbursed in full.

“I will put my hands up, I am wrong, I shouldn’t have done it,” he said adding that he was struggling with the whole thing.

“The lady in question, her family have been reimbursed in full the amount that was outstanding and we are in the process of paying back funds that are due to a small number of individuals.”

A number of comments are published on Agriglobal People’s Facebook page claiming that they are owed money.
Apology

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused to any individual or family. Agri Global People have placed hundreds of people successfully in the agricultural industry globally over the last number of years,” said Mr Minogue.

The mother from the South-East, Dawn said she contacted the Kilkenny People to highlight the issue.

“I just want to stop him from doing this to young lads stuck on the other side of the world with no money, what good are your funds if they are in someone else’s account,” the woman said.

The woman said that her 21-year-old son had seen a job advertised in New Zealand last year on the Agriglobal People site and applied.

Mr Minogue asked the young man for €1,000 in the end of September as ‘proof of funds’. The work visa was delayed and Mr Minogue said that a total of 4,500 New Zealand dollars would be required as ‘proof of funds’ for the visa.

It subsequently transpired that there was an error in the visa form was it was inaccurately completed and it was returned. The visa application was subsequently correctly filled out and the visa issued and the young man booked his flights and went to New Zealand where he is now working.

The young man googled Mr Minogue and then contacted his parents and said that he was in ‘a bit of bother’ and that he had contacted Mr Minogue on several occasions to try and get his money back.

After numerous contacts were made by family members €1,000 was transferred on December 22 and another €1,000 was paid over on January 11 and the remaining €565 was repaid last week.

Convictions

Niall Minogue, Barna, Woodsgift, Co Kilkenny was convicted in November 2016 for numerous deception-type offences and was sentenced to six years. The final two years of his sentence was suspended on condition that he be of good behaviour and keep the peace. He also was sentenced to nine months in 2017 for deception type offences dating back to 2015 when he was in custody and serving his six year sentence.

In January 2018, Niall Minogue was sentenced to ten months in prison for defrauding the injured party out of €1,600. His solicitor told the court that his client has a gambling addiction.

Garda comment

A garda spokesperson said that they cannot provide information regarding named individuals.

“We strongly advise anyone affected by financial fraud to report all incidents to their local Gardaí and to follow our guidance available online,” he added.