Dublin civil servant charged under Official Secrets Act for leaking data to foreign power

Yevgen McKeeffe, 46, faces four charges including breaching the Official Secrets Act after allegedly passing government data to a foreign handler via Telegram.

Dublin IT worker faces four charges after government leak allegations upgraded

Google News IE — Crime (en) reports that a Dublin civil servant accused of passing sensitive government information to a hostile foreign power has had his case significantly upgraded, with four new charges now laid against him including two counts under the Official Secrets Act.

Yevgen McKeeffe, aged 46, originally from Ukraine but holding Irish citizenship, was arrested on 28 May at the departures area of Dublin Airport. He was attempting to leave the country carrying €5,650 in cash and a one-way ticket when the Garda Special Detective Unit (SDU) detained him.

He had initially been charged under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act for the unlawful use of a computer. At Cloverhill District Court on Tuesday, that original charge was withdrawn and replaced with four new allegations covering offences alleged to have taken place between 11 July 2025 and 28 May of this year.

The first new charge is brought under section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Act 2018, alleging that McKeeffe unlawfully disclosed confidential information from a specific government department, which cannot be named for legal reasons. He also faces a charge under the Data Protection Act, and two counts under the Official Secrets Act — one for retaining official data from the same department, and a second for communicating that information to another person in a manner prejudicial to the safety and preservation of the State.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has directed that the case proceed on indictment to a higher court. A book of evidence must be served before McKeeffe is returned for trial. He was remanded in continuing custody and is due to appear again on Friday.

McKeeffe has lived in Ireland for 24 years and changed his name by deed poll. He remains suspended from work pending the outcome of the proceedings. Reporting restrictions bar journalists from publishing his Dublin address, the specific department in which he was employed, the overseas country involved, or the precise information he allegedly disclosed.

At his bail hearing in June — bail having first been refused two days after his arrest, and again on High Court appeal — Detective Sergeant Shay Palmer of the SDU outlined the background to the investigation. He told the court that McKeeffe had been in his current role since 2022 and had previously worked in another government department for six years.

The SDU opened an intelligence-led investigation that led to his arrest as he was about to board a flight to Turkey. It was alleged he was then to continue to a final destination where he would meet a contact and share confidential information that had the potential to create risk to the Irish State.

The court was also told McKeeffe had previously travelled abroad in 2025 under his current name but had used a different name on an earlier flight. Gardaí seized electronic devices and documents during a search of his home. His workplace was also examined and his desktop computer was removed.

It was alleged that McKeeffe transmitted information — in the form of documents, photographs, or videos — to a handler in a foreign jurisdiction via the Telegram messaging application on his mobile phone. Detective Sergeant Palmer said McKeeffe received payments in a foreign currency equivalent to €250–€260 per transfer, which were lodged into his mother's bank account. Given the nature of the country involved, the court heard it was not possible to establish whether he had received additional sums there.

Detective Sergeant Palmer told the court that McKeeffe had signed the Official Secrets Act upon commencing his employment. The detective sergeant also raised significant flight risk concerns, noting the accused held an Irish passport along with two other non-Irish travel documents and had used four other variations of his name in total.

The court heard McKeeffe came to Ireland because he was homosexual and had faced discrimination in his country of origin. He had been in Ireland lawfully since 2002 and had progressed to citizenship. Defence counsel submitted that McKeeffe had adopted a more Irish name, held a mortgage on his home, and had ties to Ireland through his employment and social connections. He has no prior convictions and denies all charges.

Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)