A judge in the Limerick City Court yesterday struck out charges against a financial consultant of fraudulent conversion because of a long delay on the part of the State in producing the book of evidence due to what the court was told was an unusually heavy volume of work in the Limerick area. Judge Michael Reilly said the case had been before the court since last December and this was far too long and was unfair to the accused.
Mr Patrick Foote (43) with an address at 46 William Street, Limerick, a director of the former Irish Mortgage and Finance Bureau, 57 O'Connell Street, Limerick, appeared on 61 charges of larceny and forgery involving £174,441 between 1996 and 1997.
Mr Michael Murray, State Solicitor, said that, because of the complexity of the case, it involved 28 books of evidence so far. There was, he said, an extraordinary volume of work in the Limerick area and persons in custody had to receive priority. The accused, he said, was not in custody.
Judge Reilly said he was satisfied that Mr Murray had an excessive workload but the accused was entitled to have his case dealt with speedily. It was, he said, up to the authorities to see that adequate staff was available. He then struck out the case.
It was learned later that the State has the right to re-enter a prosecution.
The case first surfaced last August, when the Gardai received complaints from clients of the company, alleging that sums of money had gone missing. It is understood that more than 100 such complaints were received. The company provided a mortgage intermediary service for home-buyers, arranging their mortgages with banks and building societies. It also provided an investment intermediary service.
Last August 14th, the office was no longer open for business. Shortly before that, some financial institutions suspended their arrangements with the company.
It emerged that the Irish Mortgage and Finance Bureau had not fulfilled its statutory requirement to register with the Director of Consumer Affairs, nor was it registered with the Irish Brokers' Association or the Irish Insurance Compliance Bureau.
