TWO former executives of the Goodman owned Anglo Irish Beef Processors plant at Rathkeale, Co Limerick, have had their sentence hearing further adjourned to February 26th, 1997. They admitted their role in a £900,000 intervention beef fraud.
An accountant, Sean Goodwin, and a boning hall manager, Anthony Butler, were given six year sentences in October 1995 by Judge Michael Moriarty who also directed they each carry out 240 hours' community service and disqualified them from serving as company directors for the next six years.
Judge Moriarty adjourned implementation of the sentences until the community service orders were carried out.
But when the case came back before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court it was revealed the community service orders had not been started due to an administrative technical problem.
Judge Cyril Kelly was told by counsel for the prosecution, Mr Edward Comyn SC, and for the defence, Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, that no community service work could be given because no order had been made for probation reports.
Mr MacEntee said both men were "more than eager" to carry out the community service but were prevented by procedural matters due to the absence of a probation report. The probation service could not direct the carrying out of the order without a probation report.
Judge Kelly further adjourned the case to have the men assessed for the community work and directed that probation reports be prepared.
Goodwin (47), of Portland Estate, Newcastle West, and Butler (34), of Tough, Adare, both Co Limerick, had admitted they conspired together and with Laurence Kelly, and with a person or persons unknown to defraud the Minister for Agriculture by wrongfully misappropriating beef from the intervention line at the AIBP plant in Rathkeale, thus exposing the Minister for Agriculture to loss or damage.
A total of £905,000 was defrauded in 121 intervention beef contract claims sent from the Rathkeale plant to the Minister for Agriculture between July 1990 and August 1991, Supt Michael McCarthy had told the court.
Supt McCarthy added that the Goodman owned plant submitted a total of 528 intervention claims from 1988 to 1991. However, neither of the two men before the court benefited personally from the fraud. Only the company profited. The plant's intervention licence was suspended.