THE former partner of the solicitor and Irish Press director, Elio Malocco, has been jailed for one year by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for helping to defraud the company of more than £64,000.
Judge Patrick Smith said as a solicitor, Conor Killeen was an officer of the court but, though knowing documents produced by Malocco were forgeries, he went along with his partner's fraudulent deception. Honourable solicitors had to pay into a fund to compensate for the misdeeds of their colleagues.
Judge Smith said he sympathised with Mrs Killeen who had indicated in a letter the trauma she and her family had suffered. However, he would be failing in his public duty as a judge if he didn't impose a prison sentence.
He had listened carefully to the evidence given by Det Sgt Patrick Byrne of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation. He also took into account that Killeen was previously held in high regard as a solicitor, his co-operation with the gardai and his guilty plea.
Killeen (39), of Tudor Lane, Foxrock, Dublin, pleaded guilty to five charges of being an accessory after the fact to forgery contrary to the Forgery Act 1913.
The charges detailed that he as Elio Malocco though knowing Malocco had, some time between March, 1989, and September, 1991, forged various documents with intent to defraud or deceive.
Judge Smith noted the maximum sentence that could be imposed was two years. He rejected a plea by Mr Maurice Gaffney SC (with Mr Lewis O'Brien), defending, that the one year sentence be suspended.
Mr Gaffney said Killeen had suffered greatly already as a result of being taken by surprise by Malocco and not speaking up. He also had been defrauded by Malocco and had paid £40,000 compensation to the Irish Press. That was every penny he could scrape together.
Mr Gaffney submitted there was no reason for the public to believe he had been specially favoured if given a suspended sentence. If Killeen had been able to a 10 times the £40,000, he would have done so.
At an earlier hearing, Det Sgt Byrne told Mr Joseph Mathews SC (with Mr Paul McDermott) prosecuting, that during an interview in November, 1992, he asked Killeen. Were you involved in the cover up by Elio Malocco in the Irish Press files and Killeen replied Yes. Det Sgt Byrne agreed with Mr Gaffney that Killeen was interviewed initially as a witness and not as a suspect.
Gardai accepted fully he had not benefited from the fraud and had not been involved in any way before September 13th, 1991. There was no evidence he had benefited at all from it.
The court has been told Killeen had to work near Fatjma in Portugal as a teacher of English to support his wife and child when the firm of Malocco and Killeen ceased to function as a result of the fraud.
Det Sgt Byrne said Killeen never came under Garda notice before and was a person of the utmost integrity apart from this. He had co-operated fully at all times with gardai. He informed gardai where he would be when he went to Fatima to work and honoured his commitment to return when requested.
The Court of Criminal Appeal recently upheld Malocco's conviction and five year sentence which was imposed in May, 1995. A jury found him guilty of six charges of fraud, forgery and deceit after an 11 day trial.
Det Sgt Byrne explained at the earlier hearing that the forged documents referred to libel actions taken against Irish Press plc and Irish Press Newspapers Ltd and involved a total of £64,100.
The documents included purported Bank of Ireland receipts for sums of £15,000, £21,690 and £17,500, a purported notice of lodgement with a receipt on it for £10,000, and a purported notice of discontinuance from the Circuit Court in an action taken by District Judge Maura Roche.
All the Irish Press libel business was dealt with by Malocco except in a few instances when he was away and Killeen handled them before passing the files back to his partner who kept them under lock and key in his office.
The bureau was called in shortly after the Irish Press learned in September, 1991, it was not credited with certain payments the company made in libel actions.
Killeen said he got a telephone call from Dr Eamon de Valera on the evening of September 12th, 1991 saying the company's financial controller, Mr Brendan Ryan, and accountant, Mr Oliver Holt, from Coopers and Lybrand, were on their way to the offices of Malocco and Killeen to make certain inquiries. Dr de Valera said the matter was serious.
He was busy and, felt some shock at Dr de Valera's comment. He contacted his partner on his mobile phone and Malocco returned to the office to meet the Irish Press representatives.
Det Sgt Byrne said Killeen statement went on LO note the meeting was very confrontational and Mr Ryan was quite agitated. Mr Ryan said he would stay all night if he had to. It was agreed the Irish Press people would return the next morning, Friday, September 13th, at 8.30.
After the Thursday evening meeting, Malocco told him Dr de Valera wanted proofs of payments made and said he would look after the matter. Killeen said he asked to look at the files and he was not very happy with what he saw. He spent an hour looking for receipts and found them in other files.
He said he realised money paid by the Irish Press had been misappropriated by Malocco and that some items in the books were doubtful.
Malocco assembled bank statements and instructed him what to write on ledger cards for inspection at the September 13th meeting. Mr Ryan sought comprehensive accounts about each case. "I was aware that most of the documents were forgeries," Killeen said.
He told gardai he saw Malocco with two rubber stamps which purported to be official Bank of Ireland and Courts of Justice account stamps. Malocco used them to prepare forged documents but Killeen claimed he didn't see Malocco do this.
His relationship with Malocco deteriorated rapidly after September 13th and he dissolved their partnership on September 29th, 1991. They had been in partnership since 1977 and he also had his own private practice.
Malocco told him he would sell property to make up the shortfall in the monies and there was nothing to worry about. Malocco didn't do that and never explained where the money went.
Mr Gaffney said he found the case most distasteful and he could understand how his client and his family found it distasteful for them. His client alone faced the civil action and paid every penny he could. Nobody was worse one penny because of Killeen's actions.
He said Malocco was wealthy, with other business interests. He was publicly prominent and had brought the high profile Irish Press business to the firm Malocco bad not faced the civil action nor honoured his promise to right the shortfall.
Mr Gaffney said Killeen had not asked him to make excuses for his wrong doing. He now accepted and wished he had stood up at the September 13th meeting when Malocco produced forged documents and declared he was having no hand, act or part in it.
He didn't do that and has been haunted ever since for having made the wrong decision. All his life shattered like an atomic bomb exploding, said Mr Gaffney.