Gardaí have sent a file to the DPP after completing a near five-year investigation into two Sinn Féin public representatives arrested in relation to an alleged €200,000 fraud at a Cork company.

Detectives forwarded the almost 600-page file to the DPP earlier this month, in which they detailed the allegations against Cork North Central Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould and Sinn Féin Cllr Kenneth Collins, who represents the Cork North West Ward on Cork City Council. Both men deny the allegations.

Gould was arrested on March 7th, 2025, by appointment at Togher Garda station in Cork and was questioned for 10 hours about the alleged fraud, which happened between 2014 and 2019 at a Cork company where he was employed before becoming a full-time politician.

Collins had earlier been arrested on January 3rd, 2025, by appointment at Togher Garda station and he was also questioned for around 10 hours about the alleged fraud when he was employed as a truck driver at the same company.

Both men, who were accompanied throughout the interviews by their solicitors, were released without charge and Garda sources confirmed after Gould’s release they would prepare a file on the matter for the DPP once they had completed their inquiries.

A Garda source said at the time: “There is a huge amount of documentation involved because the complaint relates to a five-year period from 2014 to 2019 and involves invoices, time sheets, payslips and tachograph readings as well as company and personal bank accounts.”

The Irish Times understands the final completed file includes memos of interviews with both Gould and Collins as well as witness statements from others who were involved in the company at the time, as well as company records and receipts covering the five-year period of the alleged fraud.

The Garda investigation centred on both an alleged fraudulent payment of invoices for relief work and holiday pay, and an alleged fraudulent payment of money for the return of pallets to the company, which operated a payment scheme for all pallets returned after deliveries.

Gould confirmed in a statement he was the politician at the centre of the investigation after The Irish Times reported that a member of the Oireachtas had been arrested. He strongly denied any wrongdoing. Collins also confirmed his arrest and similarly denied any wrongdoing.

Gould said in his statement: “I am confident that my position will be vindicated, having met the investigating gardaí where I made a detailed statement. I will be meeting my legal team to discuss all avenues now open.

“When this matter was brought to my attention, I was shocked and angry. I am entirely innocent and reject the complaint which my former employer has made against me.”

Gould said the complaint against him related to his employment as a logistics manager for the company where he had worked for 16 years before his election to Dáil Éireann in 2020.

“I was a hard-working employee who was promoted to a senior management level. When the company was sold, the owner asked me to stay on for a period to help with the transition and I was happy to facilitate him,” said Gould. “I reject the complaint entirely.”

Gould was unsuccessful when he later sought an opportunity to address the Dáil on the matter, but Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said Gould “emphatically rejects the accusation made against him and believes he will vindicate himself in full”.

Solicitor Frank Buttimer later issued a statement on behalf of Collins, his client, confirming the Sinn Féin councillor had been arrested by gardaí by appointment and had been interviewed for several hours, during which time he denied any wrongdoing.

“He was given an invitation to attend. He accepted the invitation and kept the appointment. He was made aware of the details of the allegations, which he hadn’t heard before then. He co-operated fully with their inquiries, and he denied any wrongdoing of any kind and was released without charge,” Buttimer said.