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A NEW documentary tells the story of a Tyrone woman who became an international con artist.
Julia Holmes, who was originally from Castlederg, swindled millions of pounds from multiple victims across three continents over four decades using 40 aliases.
She spent time in prison in the US for fraud and was the subject of multiple criminal investigations involving the FBI, the PSNI and An Garda Síochána.
Victims, law enforcement and the journalists who followed her antics tell the story of her life in a new documentary series on RTE called Swindlers.
The series will feature the stories of three con artists, with Holmes being the focus of the first episode next Wednesday.
The programme delves into incredulous crimes and ultimate downfall, but also the hurt and trauma she left behind.
Speaking in the documentary about Holmes coming into her life as a child, Kim Parrish Saunders, whose father Clyde Parrish married Julia Holmes in the US, said: “There was no feeling or emotion in her eyes.
“She had gone nineteen and a half years scamming everyone that she met. I think she believed that she was untouchable.”
Holmes and her husband Thomas Ruttle were found dead at their Co Limerick home in 2015. It is believed they died in a suicide pact.
Episode one of Swindlers: Julia Holmes will air on Wednesday, February 18 at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
Episode two tells the story of Dublin solicitor Thomas Byrne, who stole €52 million from Irish banking institutions and took ownership of 12 of his victims’ houses in one of the biggest cases of white-collar crime in the history of the Irish State.
From his beginnings as a local trusted solicitor, Byrne deceived his neighbours and clients by transferring a dozen of their properties into his own name without their knowledge or consent and took out multiple mortgages from the banks by using the houses as collateral.
Episode three examines the Custom House Capital (CHC) scandal, one of Ireland’s most notorious investment fraud cases.
The scheme involved the systematic misappropriation of approximately €61 million in client funds, leaving more than 2,000 investors, many of them retirees, facing devastating financial losses. In this episode, several of the victims recount their harrowing experiences.
