Man jailed for theft of foreign students’ course fees

A Mexican businessman has been sentenced to 18 months in jail with the final nine months suspended for defrauding 18 students of almost €30,000 intended for their college fees.

Raul Ramirez Rodriguez (36) was sentenced by Judge Orla Crowe at the Criminal Courts of Justice on Thursday after pleading guilty last year.

Earlier this year the judge had given Ramirez Rodriguez time to repay the money. The court was told a total of €18,050 had now been provided, but an outstanding amount of about €10,900 remained unpaid.

The court heard the foreign students transferred their money in amounts ranging from €1,200 to €3,800 to Ramirez Rodriguez’s company Travel Now as payment for their fees at a range of schools.

The judge noted the company’s commission as an agent would have amounted to between 20 and 30 per cent. But instead of booking places, Ramirez Rodriguez had used the college fees to pay debts incurred in a restaurant business which had failed during the Covid pandemic.

The judge noted many of the students were severely affected by the deception. “These students travelled a long distance to come here, and it only came to light when they found out they were not registered for a course.”

She also noted the lack of a registration on a course had led to difficulties with visas and the ability of the students to travel and to find work.

She said the mitigating factors were that Ramirez Rodriquez had paid €18,050 as a token of remorse to date, had returned to Ireland from Mexico by arrangement, had made full admissions to the gardaí when questioned and entered an early guilty plea.

The judge ordered that the €18,050 handed over by Ramirez be divided on a pro-rata basis among the 18 injured parties.

Speaking outside the court after the sentence was handed down Mahsun Karakoyun from Turkey said he did not think the sentence was severe enough. Mr Karakoyun said he had found out he was not registered at his college and without registration could not get a visa. He had paid out €1,500 and when he contacted the office of Travel Now a woman there had said there was no money left. He was forced to borrow from his brother to pay for another set of college fees and visa application. He said he was delayed coming to Ireland because his visa was dependent on being registered for a course.

“I have followed this for nearly two years, and I think he should have got a longer sentence,” he said.

Abigail Acosta from Mexico said she had paid “the full amount of money, €1,550″ to Ramirez Rodriguez to enrol her in an English language school. However, like the others when she contacted the school she was told, “I was not registered”. She said she had paid the money two years ago and had been waiting to see if she was going to get a refund.

Also speaking outside the court was Maria Fernanda said she paid €2,000 at the end of 2020 to come to Ireland to study. “I paid in advance but I realised I was not enrolled,” she said. “I was not able to work because I had no course and could not get a visa. Without the Visa, I could not get work to pay for another course. It was so stressful,” she said.”