Stiofan Ceitinn, aka Stephen Keating, was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2020 for leading a group of “predatory” fraudsters Stephen Keating with his daughter A Dublin man who was the ringleader of the infamous ‘Irish Boys’ fraud gang is at the centre of a major deportation row in Australia. Stephen Keating, aka Stiofan Ceitinn, was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2020 for leading a group of “predatory” fraudsters who duped more than 160 people out of Aus$2.1m (€1.
28m) over 18 months across Australia. Police believe victims handed over $18m to the gang since 2006 but they were only charged in relation to an 18 month period and a large number of suspected victims declined to give statement. The case made headlines across Australia with a number of victims coming forward to speak about how they had lost their life savings for the ‘Irish Boys’ fraudsters.
However, now Dubliner Keating is again at the centre of a major media storm Down Under over his proposed deportation back to Ireland. After he finished his prison sentence, the 42-year-old father successfully fought to have his visa reinstated under a new rule which gave greater weight to the 20 years he had lived in Australia, as well as his teenage daughter who was born here. For 15 months, Keating openly lived and worked in Australia but was taken back into custody on June 13 by Border Force officials upon the Immigrant Minister’s instruction.
His detention sparked outrage from his Australian .
