Tales from the Fraud Squad

Book excerpt: Tales from the Fraud Squad takes the reader on a journey from Willie McGee’s childhood in Mayo to the mean streets of Dublin as a fresh-faced officer in the late seventies, before rising through the ranks to become Head of the Fraud Squad. This book is packed full of extraordinary stories of elaborate forgeries, outrageous insurance scams and inventive crimes, along with the ingenious and meticulous attention to detail with which officers amassed evidence and brought the perpetrators to court. McGee writes fluidly and incisively, and tells his story with an open-hearted charm and warmth. Whether dealing with a common criminal or a former Taoiseach under the spotlight of a tribunal, McGee was unwavering in his quest for the truth. As he succinctly puts it, ‘money is never free and those who were caught paid a severe price for thinking that it was’. Equally well known for his heroics on the football field, Mayoman Willie ‘Four-goals’ McGee depicts a host of colourful characters – the con artists and tricksters he encountered in the line of duty – and paints a vivid picture of the murky underworld of Ireland in the 1980s and ’90s.