Speaking after the sentencing, the victim’s son and daughter said their father’s last few years were blighted by the actions of the fraudster
A Belfast pensioner who defrauded an acquaintance out of almost £280,000 has been spared immediate custody.
The 70-year-old, who can’t be named because of a reporting restriction, was handed a two year prison sentence on Tuesday suspended for two years.
The defendant had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud by false representation. The charge states that on dates between October 1, 2010 and August 23, 2012 the defendant dishonestly made a false representation, namely he took funds in the sum of £278,391 from Aiden Bergin”.
This was on the basis that these funds would be “invested in objects d’Art with a guaranteed return of £320,000 with the intention to make a gain for himself or another or to cause loss to Aiden Bergin”.
The court heard the victim and the defendant lived close to each other in Belfast and in 2007/08 Mr Bergin found out his neighbour was an art dealer and they had discussions about art and investments in art.
The defendant started buying and selling art on behalf of Mr Bergin and initially paid Mr Bergin the profit back in cash. However, over time the defendant unwisely gave guarantees as to the profits which could be obtained.
The defendant was also investing his own monies in art but unfortunately successive poor decisions left him in a “perilous financial position”. The court was told that instead of telling Mr Bergin of his problems he “tried to buy himself out of financial hardships”.
In 2017, Mr Bergin reported to his daughter that he was owed a large sum of money by the defendant through the investments in art he had bought and would receive a guaranteed return.
The defendant later met with Mr Bergin’s daughter and son and signed a note of the monies owed along with a promise to make repayments. An initial promise by the defendant to pay £10,000 resulted in a part payment of £7,000 in cash.
The defendant advised the family that a large number of paintings were to be auctioned at Christie’s on March 3, 2017, however no such sale took place. The family initiated civil proceedings by way of a Statutory Demand on March 22, 2018, resulting in bankruptcy proceedings in the High Court.
A settlement was subsequently reached and the defendant was to make a payment of £25,000 before October 15, 2018 and £100,000 before February 1, 2019.
The defendant failed to meet either payment and was bankrupted on March 7, 2019. Insolvency procedures were initiated and a sum of £65,000 was raised through the sale of the defendant’s assets.
The family received only £25,000 of this sum, as £40,000 was payable to other creditors. As a result, the family made a complaint to the PSNI and a criminal investigation was launched.
The court heard that on September 8, 2025, the defendant secured the outstanding £100,000 to the Bergin family after borrowing the money from family and friends.
In court defence barrister Patrick Taggart said he wanted to “express again the remorse of my client for his actions which have caused distress to the Bergin family over a number of years”.
Mr Taggart said the defendant accepted his actions “profoundly impacted Mr Aiden Bergin during his lifetime and continues to impact on his family until his recent payment”.
“He is deeply regretful of his actions and accepts he should not have made any guarantees at the outset and should have admitted his financial difficulties at the start.”
The court heard the defendant has no “discernible assets and at 70 years of age will have to spend the rest of his life attempting to pay back the loans he secured to meet his obligations”.
The defendant has 15 previous convictions, including 11 for road traffic matters. Judge Catherine Chasemore said Mr Aiden Bergin passed away in 2023 and was “never able to see these proceedings concluded nor the vindication of the defendant’s plea”.
She said statements from Mr Bergin’s son and daughter showed the “profound impact this crime had on their father and on his family who had to watch him suffer”.
Mr Bergin tried to “keep the trauma to himself but after a fall in January 2017 in which he thought he was going to die, he confessed to his son and daughter in a hysterical state what had happened to him” over his investments in art works.
Said Judge Chasemore: “Mr Bergin felt guilt at allowing this to happen and I am sure it must have been absolutely heart breaking to hear that he did not have money to pay for his own funeral.
“I can’t talk to Mr Bergin but I do say to his family he did nothing wrong and he did not have to be embarrassed or ashamed of being taken advantage of in this way.
“He was a victim of fraud and he was at the defendant’s mercy and it is deeply regretful that he was not able to see this resolved before he passed away. To use the words of his daughter, Mr Bergin’s life did mean something and he was dearly loved by his family.”
Speaking after the sentencing, the victim’s son and daughter said their father’s last few years were blighted by the actions of the fraudster.
Paul Bergin said he first became aware that something was wrong with his father on his 85th birthday. After suffering a fall, Mr Bergin senior spent a period in hospital before being moved to a nursing home.
His son said that on his father’s 85th birthday, on January 9th 2017, he visited his father with presents and a cake but his father “point blank refused them”. Paul said: “I asked the nursing staff what was wrong as he was very down and depressed and I knew something wasn’t right.
“I asked him what was going on and he admitted he had made a financial deal with the defendant. I then called the defendant on the phone and my father shouted out ‘fraudster, fraudster’ hoping the defendant would hear him.”
What followed for the family was a lengthy investigation which concluded today with the defendant being sentenced. Mr Bergin’s daughter Colette Watson said the actions of the defendant “deprived our Daddy of the last eight years of his life and he was left feeling like a total failure. He also lost his trust in people.”
She added: “He was a giant of a man. He was an architect for Belfast City Hospital and was a senior manager in the Housing Executive.
“This man denied my father the right to die with dignity. He preyed on him, he exploited him and he has shown no remorse whatsoever for what he did.”
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