An auditor's office was among the five premises raided to date by gardaí working for the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE).The director, Mr Paul Appleby, would not disclose the name of the auditor whose offices were raided. The raid occurred in the course of an inquiry by the ODCE into a company which availed of the auditor's services.
Two search warrants were issued to ODCE gardaí for raids on premises associated with Bovale Developments, the major building firm which was criticised in the Flood Tribunal's interim report for making a corrupt payment to the former minister Mr Ray Burke.
Corran Building Services Ltd, a building company with a registered office in Athgarvan, Co Kildare, was also raided by gardaí from Mr Appleby's office. The company is in liquidation.
Another premises raided was one in Riverstown, Dundalk, Co Louth, which has associations with two companies, Portfleet Ltd, and MMD International Logistics Ltd. The companies are both understood to be transport companies.
In June 2002 the auditor to Portfleet, Mr John Allen, Percy Square, Limerick, wrote to the Companies Registration Office (CRO) saying he had resigned as auditor to Portfleet.
Circumstances which should be brought to the attention of the creditors, he said, included: "The company is insolvent and unable to trade; and I am unable to contact the directors."
Mr Appleby, speaking at a press conference held to mark the publication of seven information booklets outlining people's obligations under company law, said his office expected to receive approximately 800 reports about companies by the end of this year.
The ODCE received 400 complaints by the end of the third quarter.
A deadline at the end of this month for the first wave of liquidators' reports to the ODCE is expected to see 300 reports being filed.
Mr Appleby intends publishing on the ODCE website the names of the liquidated companies associated with the reports he has received. He will do this so that interested parties can file comments to his office. With each report filed, the office has to decide whether the directors of the company concerned should be restricted from acting as directors in the future. The reports will not be published.
The new ODCE offices on Parnell Square are next door to the building which houses the Competition Authority and CRO. The ODCE will be able to link in with the CRO data bank.
The seven booklets published yesterday are aimed at increasing the understanding people have of their obligations under company law.
They cover the responsibilities of companies, company directors, company secretaries, creditors, shareholders, auditors, examiners, liquidators and receivers. Copies of the reports are available free of charge from the ODCE or can be downloaded from the www.odce.ie website.
Mr Appleby said the booklets were designed to address the significant information gap which exists as to people's responsibilities under company law.
