A SOLICITOR whose client is suing investment broker Mr Paul Taaffe for the return of £141,000 has said the first he knew that the broker had been expelled from the Irish Brokers' Association (IBA) was when he heard it through the media.

The client of solicitor Mr Michael Nugent say they gave Mr Taaffe - who is out of the country - monies for pension plans for employees which he never purchased.

The IBA chief executive, Mr Paul Carty, told The Irish Times that he found it hard to believe Mr Nugent's client did not know Mr Taaffe had been expelled from the IBA. He said their insurance company would have informed them. Mr Nugent said this had not happened.

Mr Nugent said he was also angry that the IBA did not inform him of Mr Taaffe's expulsion, because the indemnity bond which Mr Taaffe had with the IBA is being drawn down now, via the Department of Enterprise and Employment, to compensate a separate client of Mr Taaffe who lost £10,000. Mr Nugent said he would have thought all claims would be submitted together and the monies paid out then.

Mr Nugent said the IBA was aware of his client's case. Last March, it invited his client to attend a hearing, at which complaints against Mr Taaffe would be heard. After waiting several hours, they were told that the complaint against Mr Taaffe could not proceed until the completion of court action which Mr Nugent's client was taking against Mr Taaffe.

Mr Nugent said he heard nothing after that. When he contacted the IBA's solicitors he was told that a decision had been made - concerning Mr Taaffe - and he would be notified in due course. The matter had to go through "the proper channels". "We have still not been notified," Mr Nugent said.

A Department of Enterprise and Employment spokesman said the Department was not investigating the Taaffe affair. He confirmed that the Department had been informed of Mr Taaffe's expulsion and was happy that the IBA had handled it in an appropriate manner.