Courts

‘Shake it and wait a few days’: Father and son carried out one long Rolex watch con, court told

Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard evidence in relation to what Judge Colin Daly called ‘the confidence trick’

The men had pleaded guilty to one count of inducing the male victim in to buying a fake Rolex watch (not pictured) when they called to his home in Donoughmore, Co Cork in December of 2020.

Olivia Kelleher
Tue Feb 20 2024 - 17:08

A father and son from Kerry swindled a man out of thousands of euro for a fake Rolex watch only to be caught out when it stopped working and their customer brought it to a jeweller rather than following their advice to “shake it and wait a few days,” a court has heard.

Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard evidence in relation to what Judge Colin Daly called “the confidence trick” carried out by John O’Regan (37), of Willows Grove, Ballydribbeen, Killarney, and his father Michael O’Regan (58), of Monks Walk, Dennehy’s Boreen, in the town.

Garda Deirdre O’Mahony said the victim in the present case bought a legitimate Rolex watch from the men for €5,200 in 2020, having spotted an advertisement on Done Deal.

In December 2020 the pair approached the victim and told him that they had sourced a superior Rolex watch for him. They gave him a new Rolex watch which was fake and took back the real one. He also parted with an additional €7,250 in cash. The watch came with fake certificates of authenticity.

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When it stopped working the men told him to “shake it” and that it would be “fine” in a few days. Garda O’Mahony said when the man subsequently tried to call the father and son they either hung up after they realised it was him or didn’t answer.

The men had pleaded guilty to one count of inducing the male victim in to buying a fake Rolex watch when they called to his home in Donoughmore, Co Cork, in December 2020.

After a Garda investigation was launched they paid the man back the money owed to him. The injured party also received the legitimate Rolex watch which he had first purchased from the father and son. Both John and Michael O’Regan fully co-operated with the Garda investigation.

The men previously received a four-year suspended sentence five years ago for a deception which dated back to 2016. It involved getting a pensioner to pay for work which had not been completed.

John O’Regan, who is a father of six, has 26 previous convictions while Michael, who also has six children, has eight previous convictions. The court heard that Michael played a lesser role in the offence as he did not financially benefit from it. He also suffers from a serious medical condition.

Defence barristers Mahon Corkery and Ronan Barnes apologised on behalf of their clients Michael and John respectively for the harm caused to the victim in the case.

Judge Daly said that the men had carried out “one long con” which had involved “significant planning and intentionality.”

He jailed John O’Regan for two years whilst imposing a 16 month suspended sentence on Michael O’Regan given his lesser role in the crime.

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