Samantha Cookes who's been accused of defrauding the Department of Social Protection of almost €60,000 has been remanded in custody at a hearing in Tralee District Court.
Ms Cookes, of no fixed abode, was arrested by gardaí outside of Tralee post office on Friday when she was due to collect a weekly disability allowance worth €232.
She was charged on two counts of fraud worth €464 before Judge David Waters with further charges likely to be processed, according to gardaí.
For the past 18 months, she has been living at an address in Tralee under the name Jade O’Sullivan.
Samantha Cookes is suspected to have collected 238 fraudulent welfare payments over a four year period to the value of €59,094.30.
The 36-year-old initially submitted a claim for Supplementary Welfare Allowance in February 2020 on the basis that she had Huntington’s Disease.
In September 2021, Ms Cookes submitted a disability allowance claim which was signed by a doctor.
During the investigation, gardaí discovered that the accused had told her doctor that she was adopted and therefore couldn’t prove that she was previously diagnosed with Huntington’s and so the doctor signed her application in good faith.
Garda Raphael Liston told Judge David Waters that Ms Cookes has a history of using multiple aliases to hide her identity and has done so to cause financial and emotional damage to members of the community. He said her motives are not clear as she does not always financially benefit from them.
Garda Liston said that he believes she is a flight risk as she is a UK citizen, has not forfeited her passport and has no family ties to Ireland. He added that she poses a risk to the community and is likely to be further charged.
Gardaí had tried to make an arrangement with Ms Cookes to question her before her arrest on Friday, however were forced to lie in wait at Tralee Post Office on a day when she was collecting her benefits as she failed to respond to them.
Judge David Waters refused bail as he said he was not satisfied that any bail conditions would prevent Ms Cookes from trying to avoid the courts system.
Ms Cookes was granted legal aid and is due to appear before Tralee District Court again on Wednesday via video link.
