The High Court yesterday entered judgment by consent for more than £170,000 against a Co Carlow accountant. Judgment was sought by the Bank of Ireland in the sum of £171,144.59 against Mr Ignatius Forde, of Graiguecullen.
The action was listed for three days, but did not proceed when the application for judgment was not opposed. However, a solicitor for Mr Forde sought a stay on the making of the order. The solicitor said that other people had injunctions against Mr Forde to prevent him reducing assets below £200,000 and a receiver had been appointed over those assets. The solicitor said that some £2 million had been claimed against his client.
Mr Hugh O'Neill SC, for the Bank of Ireland, said that the matter was based on fraud. Mr Forde had passed himself off as an agent for the Investment Bank of Ireland, a subsidiary of Bank of Ireland, and had printed up notepaper.
Mr O'Neill said that his client had been "caught" as the collecting bank. It had paid out money to Mr Forde and then the true owners of that money had looked for their cash, so the bank had paid out on the double.
He said that the amounts sought in judgment were "the tip of the iceberg" in the context of the amount of money the bank had to pay out.