Tales from the Fraud Squad

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.

Perhaps best known for his heroics on the football field, Mayoman Willie ‘Four-goals’ McGee spent decades as an officer in An Garda Síochána, rising through the ranks to become Head of the Fraud Squad.Tales from the Fraud Squad takes readers on a journey from Willie’s childhood in Mayo to the streets of Dublin as a fresh-faced officer and his footballing days before introducing the colourful characters populating Ireland’s underworld in the 1980s and ’90s—the con artists and tricksters he encountered in the line of duty.Packed full of stories of elaborate forgeries, insurance scams, and intriguing, inventive crimes, along with the meticulous attention to detail with which officers amassed evidence and brought the perpetrators to court, Willie tells his story with an open-hearted charm and warmth.