The Irish Attorney General's office has confirmed it is in possession of a warrant from Britain's Serious Fraud Office requesting the extradition of Mr Noel Whelan in connection with its investigation into Powerscreen International.

It is understood the Serious Fraud Office has requested the extradition in connection with its inquiry into irregularities at one of Powerscreen's former subsidiaries, Matbro, a Gloucestershire-based tractor manufacturer.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said the extradition request for former Powerscreen director Mr Whelan was currently being examined and that no decision had yet been reached regarding it. Three former Powerscreen directors have already had charges brought against them by the Serious Fraud Office as a result of its three-year investigation into the accounting irregularities at Matbro.

Powerscreen's management informed the London and Dublin Stock Exchanges in 1998 that a £47 million sterling (€76.2 million) accounting black hole had been discovered at Matbro. Just a few months earlier, the Tyrone-based engineering group had raised £18 million sterling in a new share issue.

The Serious Fraud Office has brought charges against Mr Shay McKeown, Powerscreen's former chief executive; Mr Barry Cosgrove, the group's former finance director, and Mr Edward Holmes, the former managing director of Matbro, based on evidence gathered during its investigation into the Dungannon-based group.

Mr McKeown has been accused of withholding information under Section 47 of the Financial Services Act in the UK, while Mr Cosgrove has been charged with two counts of theft and one breach of the Financial Services Act.

Mr Edward Holmes, the former managing director of Matbro, has also been charged with carrying on the subsidiary's business in Gloucester for a fraudulent purpose between January and December 1997. This week, Mr McKeown failed in his bid to have the charges against him dismissed at Bristol Crown Court. Mr Holmes has also applied to have the charges against him dismissed and the court is expected to address this application early next year.

It is understood that Britain's Serious Fraud Office is hopeful its extradition request for Mr Whelan will be processed early next year. It is believed it intends to call Mr Whelan as the fourth defendant in the Powerscreen International case that will be heard before a jury at Bristol Crown Court.

Under English legislation, the Serious Fraud Office is unable to bring charges against any individual unless they are in the UK.

Mr Whelan is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI). The ICAI carried out its own investigation into the activities of Powerscreen's former auditors, KPMG, and two former members of the group's board, following the disclosure of the irregularities at Matbro.

Neither the results of the investigation nor details of the individuals involved have been disclosed by the institute. In a separate move earlier this year, Mr Whelan was summoned to what was scheduled to be a public disciplinary meeting by the ICAI. The hearing, however, was heard in private after Mr Whelan's legal representatives cited matters that he "could not allude to in public".

The ICAI has not commented on the disciplinary case to date.