A four-star Dublin hotel alleges one of its employees misappropriated €597,000 worth of payments as part of a “very elaborate fraud”.
At the request of the company behind the Address Connolly, the High Court on Friday made urgent orders aimed at preventing the employee and her husband from dissipating their assets below €582,000.
The hotel on Amiens Street in central Dublin was previously known as The North Star Hotel but rebranded as part of the Address Collective in mid-2020.
In sworn legal documents, hotelier Brian McGettigan, who is a director of plaintiff firm BC McGettigan Limited, said that to his “great disappointment” he learned that Andja (also known as Anda) Gulic Pejovic, an employee in his hotels since 2016, generated 152 payments that were purported to be to certain suppliers or employees.
He said these payments, which have allegedly occurred since April 2022, were directed to two Revolut bank accounts in Lithuania and one in Ireland, as well as her Bank of Ireland account into which her salary is paid.
“These payments were fraudulent and constitute the dishonest appropriation of the assets of the plaintiff,” he claimed.
As well as alleged financial fraud, Mr McGettigan claimed the plaintiff firm has uncovered “serious data breaches” and a forged Dubai tenancy agreement created by Ms Pejovic.
He said she began work as a junior accounts assistant with another Address Collective hotel in June 2016 and progressed to accounts assistant at what was then the North Star Hotel in 2019.
Ms Pejovic has been on maternity leave since last June and is currently believed to be in Croatia, although she ordinarily resides in Ireland, the court heard.
Mr McGettigan said an issue first arose when a supplier sought payment of €7,800 that the hotel believed had already been paid. The supplier informed the hotel that the bank details it held were incorrect, causing the hotel’s accounts team to become concerned about potential fraudulent activity, he said.
A review of payments found three Revolut accounts into which payments due to several suppliers had been made, he said.
The hotel engaged Barry Robinson, who leads BDO’s forensic services team in Ireland, to analyse its books and records and to identify the full extent of the alleged fraud.
Mr McGettigan said the forensic accountant uncovered 152 “fraudulent” payments totalling €596,997. He said Mr Robinson also identified that Ms Pejovic sent a large number of emails, including copies of the company payroll and procurement database, to her husband, Dusan Pejovic, who is the other defendant in the case.
These alleged data breaches have been notified to Ireland’s data protection watchdog, Mr McGettigan said.
On Friday, the hotel’s barrister, Frank Kennedy, said the case relates to a “very elaborate fraud” and his client is concerned that the level of dishonesty at play points to the possibility of assets being dissipated.
He said Revolut and other relevant financial institutions will be notified urgently of the court’s asset “freezing” orders.
Mr Justice Brian Cregan made temporary orders, while only the plaintiff firm was on notice of the application, prohibiting the defendants from dissipating their assets below €582,000.
He scheduled for the case to return to court on Wednesday, when the Pejovics will have an opportunity to refute the claims made. The judge said the defendants can come to court earlier if they want to try to vary or dislodge his orders.
