A full Garda investigation is currently underway after it emerged that Westmeath Council Council was hit by a €515k fraud in recent weeks. The issue was discovered on Friday 16 February, where it was immediately reported by Westmeath County Council to gardaí. It’s understood that Westmeath County Council received a hoax notification that a supplier had changed bank, with a request that the supplier’s payment details be updated. When a legitimate invoice from the supplier was submitted, payment went to the fraudulent account.
In a statement issued last Thursday, 22 February, Westmeath County Council confirmed that an investigation was underway.