The Director of Corporate Enforcement has won High Court permission to seek to disqualify an auditor who audited the books of a company linked to the late Des Traynor.
In the High Court yesterday the auditor, Patrick McCann, of McCann & Associates, Drumcondra, Dublin, failed to prevent the case on the grounds of excessive delay.
The court heard that the director, Paul Appleby, wants Mr McCann disqualified from acting as auditor or director, and from a number of other roles, for a period to be decided by the courts. Mr McCann has said he gets much of his income from auditing work and that disqualification would be "disastrous" for him and his firm.
It is the first time the director has sought to disqualify an auditor.
The court heard that Mr Appleby is accusing Mr McCann of forging a letter which was produced to an authorised officer conducting an inquiry into the company controlled by Mr Traynor.
Mr Appleby says a phone number on the letterhead of the letter did not exist at the time the letter was allegedly signed by the late Mr Traynor. Mr McCann "hotly denies" the allegations.
The case concerns a company called Kentford Securities Ltd, which was investigated by authorised officer Gerry Ryan in the wake of the McCracken (Dunnes Payments) tribunal.
Mr Ryan's confidential report found that £2.75 million (€3.5 million) passed through the company's bank accounts as part of the Ansbacher deposits tax evasion scheme, it was revealed in court yesterday. Details from the confidential report were disclosed by Mr Justice Michael Peart as he dismissed the application from Mr McCann.
Mr McCann is a certified public accountant. He employs two qualified accountants, a company secretary, a trainee accountant and a secretary and supports his family from his practice. He told the court his auditing practice had been examined by his professional body in recent times and found to be satisfactory.
Mr McCann was auditor of Kentford Securities during 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993. The financial statements and balance sheets for the period stated the company had cash of £2 and £2 called-up share capital.
"The reality is that approximately £2.75 million (€3.5 million) passed through the bank accounts of the company . . . and that these accounts were used in order to facilitate the evasion of taxes by those persons for whom the company was used as a vehicle to withdraw Ansbacher deposits," Mr Justice Peart said, referring to the findings of the authorised officer.
The judge said Mr McCann was appointed a director of Kentford in March 1988, but there was a dispute over when he resigned. A document in the Companies Office shows him having resigned in March 1989, but the return was dated April 1992 and filed a month later.