With a ‘tube’ up his nose and lying on a ‘hospital bed’, the photo appears to be of Ireland’s most famous sports stars being treated for cancer.
There is one problem – he didn’t have cancer.
DJ Carey, seen as one of the greatest hurlers of all time, has pleaded guilty to pretending to have cancer to trick people into giving him money.
The sports legend even conned Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien into giving him money to fund cancer treatment.
Carey, 54, pleaded guilty to 10 counts related to defrauding people out of money while pretending to have cancer at the Circuit Court in Dublin’s Criminal Courts of Justice on Wednesday.
The sportsman won five All-Ireland titles and nine All-Star awards in hurling.
Hurling is a stick-and-ball field game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin played by men and women. Carey has been described as the sport’s ‘first superstar” and a ‘hurling legend’.
However, he was said to have tricked his victims into making a monetary payment to him between 2014 and 2022 after saying he needed money to fund cancer treatment.
Since pleading guilty, an image of Carey with ‘tubes’ up his nose and lying on a ‘hospital bed’ has resurfaced.
The image, thought to have been sent to his victims, appears to show an iPhone cable taped to his face.
Carey was charged with inducing him to make a payment to him between January 2014 and late 2022.
Carey’s defence team told the court that while cancer was referred to in the indictment, the sports star ‘does have very genuine health conditions’ which required surgery for a heart condition last year.
They told the court he must attend check-ups periodically and that evidence from his surgeons can be provided.
Despite his legendary status after he retired from hurling, Carey publicly battled financial problems.
In May 2011, Allied Irish Bank (AIB) secured an initial debt repayment court order for about £7.3million.
However, this debt was then reduced from nearly £8.2million to £51,000 in a settlement with AIB in 2018.
In 2015, speaking on RTE’s Ray D’Arcy radio show, Carey said: ‘I am not one of those who would say “I don’t care” about repaying debt.’
‘You borrow money, it should be paid back.’
Carey appeared in court in late 2023 charged with 21 counts under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act, with a four-week trial expected to take place this year.
He was due to stand trial on deception charges at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
About 28 witnesses were expected to give evidence for the prosecution at trial.
But the prosecutor told the court that Carey would be entering guilty pleas, with a sentencing date now set for October 29.
Carey has been remanded on bail until then.
The hurling star’s fall from grace follows a period of celebrity status after retiring from hurling in 2006.
Carey’s family members are also well-known in the world of Irish sport.
His sister, Catriona, was a member of the Ireland women’s field hockey team, while his brother Martin was also a hurler.
One of the most high-profile cancer-faking scandals unfolded a decade ago with influencer Belle Gibson.
In 2015, it was uncovered that the Australian wellness influencer, who had built an online community and profited off the back of selling a story about being diagnosed with cancer, was a fraud.
The author of The Whole Pantry mobile app and cookbook claimed to have had malignant brain cancer that she managed through diet, exercise, natural medicine, and alternative medicine therapies.
After an investigation regarding the legitimacy of Gibson’s claims that she was donating a sizeable amount of her income to charities, it was discovered she’d lied about her age, personal life and actually having cancer at all.
She eventually confessed, admitting that ‘none of it’s true’.
Gibson was convicted in 2017 of engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct and fined $410,000 (£211,000) for breaching consumer laws.
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